Rosie’s Book Review Team (RBRT) – Booklist

What authors are saying about Rosie Amber’s Review Team:

‘I rely on Rosie’s review team for honest and thoughtful reviews. I know they love reading and the reviews they post express both that love and their opinions of my (and other writers’) novels. Long may they continue. Their support has been invaluable.’  Carol Hedges, author of Victorian murder mysteries and YA

‘As well as introducing me to talented authors in other genres, I’m grateful to Rosie’s review team for helping raise awareness of my books to new readers.’  Tony Riches, Amazon best-selling historical fiction author.

‘Without doubt the best book review service I’ve used. Always a quick turnaround, always honest reviews, and as an author you can’t ask for more than that.’  Dylan J. Morgan, author of horror, Sci-Fi, dystopian and post apocalyptic fiction.

‘Rosie Amber and her team of reviewers/bloggers are professional, dedicated and fair minded. As an author, I know that I will receive a fair critique of my novels from them. I am happy to use them as go-to reviewers for any new novel I publish. I am also happy to recommend them to other authors.’  Lizzie Lamb, author of romantic comedies

‘Rosie’s team bring authors and readers together in the nicest possible way.  Reviewers who care about books – what more can an author ask for?  David Ahern, mystery author

“Smaller authors don’t have the same publicity budget as the big publishers and it is a struggle to reach potential readers. Rosie and her team provide an invaluable service not only with providing good quality reviews but also with sharing those reviews on social media to reach a larger audience.” Diane Febry thriller author

 

 

Book Review Team Booklist

Below will be a list of books team members can request for review. Please read and write a review for any chosen book within a month of receipt. Reviews should be posted on at least 2 sites, these can be your own blogs, Amazon, Goodreads, Smashwords etc.  Plus a copy of the review should be e-mailed to me and I will post it here on my blog with full recognition going to the reviewer.  I shall endeavour to keep this page as up to date as possible and match book requests to reviewers on a first come first served basis.

Members of the book review team and authors are spread across the world and it’s time zones so a little patience may be required at times.

All books will be in e-formats.

Team members should contact me via my e-mail to request their choice of book/ books and FORMAT. I will pass on their request to the author. Do check spam and contact me if you think you haven’t received your book after a reasonable 48 hour wait.

Once you’ve written your book review please send a copy to me via e-mail and also tell me where you will be posting the review. I will post the review on my blog as soon as is reasonably possible with full credit to the reviewer. Please provide a link to your blog if you intend posting the review there as I will pass this on to the authors.

New Book review Team members are always welcome, please make initial contact via the Book Review Team Tab at the top of the blog.

Twitter Hashtag #RBRT

The Book List

Upon Us by Blakeley Chorpenning (192 pages)

What if the apocalypse was manufactured to save mankind?

Threatened by an ailing planet and insatiable human advancement, world governments agreed to ban the modern way of life, cutting off electricity, technology, and medical services, dismantling the global economy for one hundred years.

Twenty-five years have passed in this self-imposed darkness known as the New Beginning. Crops are dying and the sickness -a zombie-like plague of rotting flesh and fractured minds- is ravishing the East Coast of the United States.

One woman has been entrusted by the clans to remedy their food shortage. Breaking the rules is nothing new, but She -a nameless nomad- must abduct a privileged villager named Ren, bringing her too close for comfort with his entitled world. Together, they discover the root of the plague as their desire for one another grows, even as the differences in their two worlds collide.

Through deception, conspiracy, and the horrors of an expanding pandemic, love thrives where a world chose to die.

Genre: Post Apocalyptic romance

Format: Mobi

Love, Look Away by Lisette Brodey (337 pages)

At twenty-nine, Sage Gordon has had it with love. The owner of Sage Earth Gifts, a metaphysical gift shop in the old-money town of Swansea, New York, Sage is content to run her quirky store and enjoy her dog, Rufus, and her two cats, Finlay and Babaloo.

When she’s set up with Caleb Dunlap, a gorgeous marketing executive in New York City, Sage struggles to let go of the past, but she does. Happily, she finds herself engaged … then … not so much. If only Caleb had betrayed her before she sent out the save-the-date cards….

Genre: RomCom

Format: Mobi

Trouble At Clenchers Mill by Diana J Febry. (288 pages)

Somebody wants Richard Fielding dead.
Richard was looking forward to making a fresh start with his new wife, Alicia when they moved into Clenchers Mill. Then the attacks started.
Detained in the hospital after an unusual accident, he dismisses the claim his new wife is trying to harm him. He’s convinced the property attacks are the childish pranks of locals annoyed by his plans for Clenchers Mill. As a successful property developer, he’s seen it all before. Mindful of Alicia’s reluctance to involve the police he instructs Kate and Simon to make discreet inquiries.
Kate and Simon are keen to find the culprit, but are inexperienced and blissfully unaware they are dealing with a determined killer toying with their prey before they strike. Their first case may prove to be their last.

Genre: Dark mystery

Format: Mobi  or e-pub

Lucy Mathers Goes Back to Work by Julie Butterfield (319 pages)

Lucy Mathers was once the golden girl of Simcock & Bright. Four years later, she’s a stay at home mum with two adorable children, has swapped her Louboutins for rabbit slippers and spends her day making crustless sandwiches and colour co-ordinated lunches instead of signing up high profile clients.
When her husband is suddenly made redundant, there is panic in the Mathers’ household. With a mortgage the size of the national debt and a credit card balance that’s in danger of toppling, Lucy reluctantly decides she must return to work. So she digs out her old power suits from the back of the wardrobe and leaves Will to become a house husband. But sitting in Lucy’s old office is Grant Cassidy, suave, handsome and ruthless and with no intention of letting Lucy walk back into the number one job.
At home, despite his breezy declaration that swapping boardroom battles for toddler groups would be a doddle, Will’s belief that parental issues could be solved with forward planning and a spread sheet soon falls by the wayside.
With both Will and Lucy struggling to adapt, could their previously happy marriage be developing some cracks?

Genre: Romcom

Format: Mobi / e-pub

 

Collateral Carnage by Chris Saper (274 pages)

Money. Politics. Big Pharma. What could go wrong?As PTSD therapist Claire Wilheit is about to learn, a whole helluva lot. A chance after-hours encounter with a fellow therapist reveals falsified patient files and thrusts Claire into a conspiracy poised to revolutionize treatment for US veterans now and for future generations, with deadly collateral damage.Trapped in an avalanche of events over which she has no control, Claire is locked into a race against time in preventing the sweeping, irreversible and fatally flawed policies that Congress is about to set into play.Collateral Carnage is Chris Saper’s debut novel, a gripping thriller set in a future near enough to be all too terrifying.

Genre: Thriller

Format: Mobi or e-pub

Programagic Cycle by Anton Eine (49 pages)

When the Pentagonal Citadel’s Fire Wall is breached as a result of a robbery, giving the perpetrators access to the most dangerous artifacts stored in the Vault, Magister Sajar Randhar finds himself in hot water.

His security clearance is pulled and he’s placed under house arrest for the entire duration of the investigation. But who could have hacked the most impregnable security system in the entire Murican Empire? How did they manage it in the first place? And why remove Sajar from the investigation instead of having him cooperate with the authorities?

The veteran mage is left with no other choice but to take the investigation into his own hands. The case is incredibly complex, but with his great experience and top-notch skills as a magic security specialist, there’s no better man for the job.

Genre: Scifi

Format: Mobi

Hands Up by Stephen Clark (272 pages)

Officer Ryan Quinn, a rookie raised in a family of cops, is on the fast track to detective until he shoots an unarmed black male. Now, with his career, reputation and freedom on the line, he embarks on a quest for redemption that forces him to confront his fears and biases and choose between conscience or silence.

Jade Wakefield is an emotionally damaged college student living in one of Philadelphia’s worst neighborhoods. She knows the chances of getting an indictment against the cop who killed her brother are slim. When she learns there’s more to the story than the official police account, Jade is determined, even desperate, to find out what really happened. She plans to get revenge by any means necessary.

Kelly Randolph, who returns to Philadelphia broke and broken after abandoning his family ten years earlier, seeks forgiveness while mourning the death of his son. But after he’s thrust into the spotlight as the face of the protest movement, his disavowed criminal past resurfaces and threatens to derail the family’s pursuit of justice.

Ryan, Jade, and Kelly–three people from different worlds—are on a collision course after the shooting, as their lives interconnect and then spiral into chaos.

Genre: Crime Fiction

Format: Mobi

Katherine – Tudor Duchess by Tony Riches (328 pages)

Attractive, wealthy and influential, Katherine Willoughby is one of the most unusual ladies of the Tudor court. A favourite of King Henry VIII, Katherine knows all his six wives, his daughters Mary and Elizabeth and his son Edward.

When her father dies, Katherine becomes the ward of Tudor knight, Sir Charles Brandon. Her Spanish mother, Maria de Salinas, is Queen Catherine of Aragon’s lady in waiting, so it is a challenging time for them all when King Henry marries the enigmatic Anne Boleyn.

Genre: Tudor HistFic

Format: Mobi

Christmas Cupcakes & A Caper by D.E. Haggerty (ARC now for November publication)

It’s all candy cane cupcakes and peppermint coffee until you find a dead elf on your doorstep.

Only the elf wasn’t a real elf, because elves don’t actually exist – not even at Christmas time. A college student dressed like an elf decided taking a nap on the stoop of Callie’s Cakes in sub-zero winter temps was a good idea. It wasn’t. Anna, the pink-haired baker extraordinaire, is convinced the student’s death was not an accident. She drags Callie and Kristie along with her as she attempts to discover who killed the elf … um… student.

Will the gals of Callie’s Cakes find the killer before Christmas is ruined?

Cupcakes not included, although you’ll find recipes for all the delicious Christmas cupcakes Anna bakes.

Genre: Cosy mystery

Format: Mobi / e-pub

Natural Phenomena by Simon R Chadwick (352 pages)

It’s Earth. Just not our Earth. And it’s not just the wildlife that you need to be careful of. Alex and Dev go searching for Alex’s nan but find a parallel Earth full of extinct creatures and animals that never were. Given refuge within the walls of Farrier’s Rock they’re protected from the beasts of the forest, but that doesn’t mean they’re safe.

Natural Phenomena: The Forest Of Endless Forms is a tale of adventure, mystery and murder set amongst a world of life forms both ferocious and weird. Alex and Dev, together with their new friends Amma, Susu and Sabah, must confront natural wonders and unnatural terror in order to survive.

A young adult novel by author Simon R Chadwick, this is a book that will appeal to fans of wildlife, monsters, dinosaurs and the strange possibilities of life itself.

Genre: Ya fantasy

Format: Mobi / epub

Transforming Mrs To Ms: A Woman’s Guide To Divorce by Prenita Reddi

DIVORCE IS ONE OF THE MOST STRESSFUL JOURNEY … We’re forced to search into the deepest corners of our hearts to rediscover ourselves.

At 24, the author was a single mother struggling to survive while she went through her own divorce. Her ordeal left her bruised but it did not break her. Today, at 39, she is happily remarried and has three beautiful children. The intention of the book is straightforward: to be a supportive reference for people experiencing the tribulations of the break-up of their marriage, and to let them know that although it is a lonely experience it is not one they need to take alone. The book creates awareness and offers sensible guidance through the perplexing phases that constitute the divorce process. The result is a simply written and practical book, which is enriched by her knowledge of the terrain. An added bonus is details of her coping mechanisms which she shares in an effort to assist others, particularly women, embroiled in the remnants of failed marriages.

Genre: Non-Fiction

Format: Gifted copy from Amazon.com

Shamus Dust: Hard Winter. Cold War. Cool Murder by Janet Roger (376 pages) Due out October 28th.

Two candles flaring at a Christmas crib. A nurse who steps inside a church to light them. A gunshot emptied in a man’s head in the creaking stillness before dawn, that the nurse says she didn’t hear. It’s 1947 in the snowbound, war-scarred City of London, where Pandora’s Box just got opened in the ruins, City Police has a vice killing on its hands, and a spooked councilor hires a shamus to help spare his blushes. Like the Buddha says, everything is connected. So it all can be explained. But that’s a little cryptic when you happen to be the shamus, and you’re standing over a corpse.

Genre: Mystery

Format: Download now from netgalley.com or netgalleyuk

Not My Father’s House by Loretta Miles Tollefson (260 pages)

Suzanna hates everything about her New Mexico mountain home. The isolation. The short growing season. The critters after her corn. The long snow-bound winters in a dimly-lit cabin.
But she loves Gerald, who loves this valley.
So Suzanna does her unhappy best to adjust, even when the babies come, both of them in the middle of winter. Her postpartum depression, the cold, and the lack of sunlight push her to the edge.
But the Sangre de Cristo mountains contain a menace far more dangerous than Suzanna’s internal struggles. The man Gerald killed in the mountains of the Gila two years ago isn’t as dead as everyone thought.
And his lust for Suzanna may be even stronger than his desire for Gerald’s blood.

Genre: Historical Fiction

Format: Mobi or e-pub

A Convenient Fiction by Mimi Matthews (ARC now for Oct publication)

He Wanted a Fortune… 

Alex Archer has no tolerance for sentiment. He’s returned to England for one reason only: to find a wealthy wife. A country-bred heiress in Surrey seems the perfect target. But somewhere between the village railway station and the manor house his mercenary plan begins to unravel. And it’s all the fault of Laura Hayes—a lady as unsuitable as she is enchanting.

She Needed a Husband… 

It’s been three years since Laura’s father died, leaving her and her invalid brother to subsist on the income from the family’s failing perfume business. But time is swiftly running out. What she needs is a husband, and fast. A noble gentleman who can rescue them all from penury. When a mysterious stranger arrives in the village, he seems a perfect candidate. But Alex Archer is no hero. In fact, he just might be the opposite.

From the beaches of Margate to the lavender fields of Provence, a grudging friendship slowly blossoms into something more. But when scandal threatens, can a man who has spent his entire life playing the villain, finally become a hero? Or will the lure of easy riches once again outweigh the demands of his heart?

Genre: Historical romance

Format: Mobi

The Willow Woman by Laurence Westwood (454 pages)

Philip Ye, an Anglo-Chinese homicide detective with the Chengdu Public Security Bureau, is drawn against his will into the search for a missing, vulnerable boy. Not only will this investigation draw into his orbit Ma Meili – a lonely police constable with secrets enough of her own – but also a face from his past, the brilliant Prosecutor Xu Ya, as well as her indefatigable and worldly-wise assistant Fatty Deng.

Soon enough the investigation escalates into a murder enquiry and Philip Ye finds himself on the trail of a mysterious figure known as The Willow Woman. However, unbeknownst to Philip Ye, Ma Meili, Xu Ya and Fatty Deng, there are secretive and subversive forces at work within the dark heart of the city of Chengdu, and intrigue and mortal danger await them all…

Genre: Crime Fiction

Format: Mobi / e-pub

Murder At The Columbarium by Emily Gallo (387 pages)

Jed’s quiet life as caretaker of the San Francisco Columbarium is turned upside down when he comes upon a dead woman’s body and a crying baby just inside the gate. His search for answers thrusts him into a world of corruption, bigotry and drug trafficking and he becomes one of the principal suspects.

Genre: Mystery

Format: Mobi

A sickness In The Soul by William Savage (Ashmole Foxe mystery 282 pages)

Ashmole Foxe, Norwich bookseller, man-about-town and solver of mysteries will encounter all of these in this tangled drama of hatred, obsession and redemption.

This is a story set in the England of the 1760s, a time of rigid class distinctions, where the rich idle their days away in magnificent mansions, while hungry children beg, steal and prostitute themselves on the streets. An era on the cusp of revolution in America and France; a land where outward wealth and display hide simmering political and social tensions; a country which had faced intermittent war for the past fifty years and would need to survive a series of world-wide conflicts in the fifty years ahead.

Faced with no less than three murders, occurring from the aristocracy to the seeming senseless professional assassination of a homeless vagrant, Ashmole Foxe must call on all his skill and intelligence to uncover the sickness which is appears to be infecting his city’s very soul.

Can Foxe uncover the truth which lies behind a series of baffling deaths, from an aristocrat attending a ball to a vagrant murdered where he slept in a filthy back-alley?

Genre: Mystery

Format: Mobi

Death Of A Lie by Peter Harper (253 pages)

Death of a Lie

1944, and a Lend-Lease B-25 with its Soviet aircrew falls from the sky above Timişoara, Romania. Andrei Bălcescu, while camping out that night on his father’s smallholding, finds a battered folder amidst the plane’s wreckage.

Fifty years later, Andrei’s adopted son, Lucian, rediscovers the folder and its eight pages of encrypted material in a garden shed. He visits a childhood friend, who makes a start on cracking the code. Barely a week later, Lucian suspects he is being followed by persons unknown.

Present day, and Lucian’s daughter, Shani Bălcescu, a promising Oxford academic, continues to search for information on her family. When she receives a text from an individual claiming to have known her parents, curiosity takes her to Timişoara, where she soon regrets her impulsive nature. Witness to the aftermath of a vicious murder, and hearing that both Oxford and her home city of Prague have been ‘visited’, Shani knows that to leave Romania would prove fatal without first piecing together her father’s movements days before she was born.

Genre: Thriller

Format: Mobi

You, Me And Other Stuff by Lorraine Barrett (ARC now for Sept 28th Release)

A witty, coming-of-age, romantic comedy about friendship, unrequited love and betrayal.

Declan’s a tad annoyed; not only has the love of his life run off with ‘Superman’ but she’s also unwittingly caused his current hostage status.

‘You, Me and Other Stuff,’ is about Sarah Quinn and Declan Murphy and the other stuff that gets in the way of their relationship. Mostly the fact that Sarah is engaged to another man and Declan is being held as a prisoner. Both of which would be huge obstacles in any normal relationship.

Find out what Sarah did to cause this unusual situation.

Can Declan overcome his hatred for Sarah and can Sarah overcome her doubts to end up with the right man?

Genre: RomCom

Format: Mobi

Pirates Of Mars by Christopher Gerrib (272 pages) Book #2 of a series but can be read as a stand-alone

Pirates of Mars, the new Mars adventure story by Chris Gerrib. Lieutenant Peter Grant of the Volunteer Space Rescue Service is taken hostage by pirates, who are holding him for ransom. The Rescue Service can’t afford to pay a ransom and is not equipped for an armed rescue. Fellow Rescueman, Jack Williams, unwilling to violate Rescue tradition and leave a person behind, decides to improvise a rescue. . .

Genre: Scifi

Format: Mobi

Moms Of The Missing: Living The Nightmare by Steffen Hou (262 pages) (ARC now for October publication)

In ‘Moms of the Missing’ I investigate ten abduction cases. Through personal and heartbreaking interviews with the victims the book describes how parents maintain their hopes of one day finding their children—some of whom were taken by a stranger, a family member, or human traffickers. And two survivors tell what it is like to be held captive.

Moms of the Missing also describes the principal types of abductions, who the perpetrators are, and—not of least importance—who’s most likely to become a victim of the epidemic of missing children. All across America parents are searching for their missing children or—if the worst case scenario has come to pass—the person who killed them.

Genre: True Crime

Format: Mobi

Hate The Game by Holly Hall (Arc now for Sept publication)

My official title: Relationship Consultant. A modern-day, one-sided matchmaker. When I approach relationships like a formula, it’s simple really. If only I had the same success in my personal life.

My gorgeous neighbor turns me into a fumbling mess, and I don’t exactly match the leggy, model-types I’ve seen him with. Despite the fact that we’re total opposites, our chemistry is almost hot enough to convince me to give the dating game another try. (Not to mention, it’s totally off-brand to be a relationship skeptic.)

What could it hurt to practice what I preach? After all, Theo Hartley would be a fun specimen to practice with. And if things go south—which is my luck—I just have to remember what I tell my clients:
don’t hate the player…

Genre: Romcom

Format: Mobi

The Western Passage: Exodus by Gina DiCarlo (335 pages)

A thousand miles of wilderness. Innumerable dangers. Uneasy alliances. A bond forged in blood. The odds are great, and survival has never been more uncertain.

Vampires and humans have always been bitter enemies, destined to push each other to extinction. But when a group of scientists develops a genetic enhancement meant to boost the effectiveness of human hunters, tragic results threaten to bring about the destruction of vampires and humans alike.

After the fallout of Year Zero and rise of mutated hybrids known as morphs, the remaining humans retreat into five fortresses.

All seems well until Easthaven is attacked in an assault that leaves only thirty survivors. Enter Marcus Warren, one of the most powerful hunters in existence. Reluctantly, Marcus assumes leadership and decides that the group’s only chance of survival is to cross a thousand miles of wilderness to Ashland.

Forced to trust a hybrid named Clio and a vampire called Aya, Marcus and the others set out. Dangers lurk everywhere, and enemies seem destined to destroy them…if they don’t destroy each other first.

Genre: Post-Apocalyptic Sci-fi, Paranormal Thriller

Format: Mobi