Rosie’s Book Review Team #RBRT Thicker Than Water by @GeorgiaRoseBook #SundayBlogShare

Today’s team review comes from Jessie, she blogs here http://behindthewillows.com

Jessie has been reading Before The Dawn and Thicker than Water by Georgia Rose from the Grayson Trilogy

Putting down the third book and wiping away tears I mulled things over, trying to pin point just what it was that pulled me in.

What was it that had me reading the last two books of this trilogy in a marathon afternoon into evening read?

It wasn’t the flowery language or exquisitely turned phrases. In fact the language of this book is very simple. Coffee is made, horses are cared for, the thoughts in Grayson’s head are just like thoughts that might be in mine.

Just, normal – stuff.

And I think that was it, what I thought at first was over simplified writing, that was the key. Because when everything goes decidedly not normal, whether for good (the tall, dark, handsome, possessive man, yeah, it totally goes there) bad ( I won’t ruin anything but let’s just say there are baddies and they’ve got guns) or sometimes crazy (again, no spoilers here, but when I tried to tell my husband what was going on and why I couldn’t talk to him even though he’d been at work for the last 12 hours, he raised his eyebrows and told me I read “weird stuff”), it was still believable.

I’d already been riding along in Grayson’s life, for all the everyday mundane things. So when the not so everyday, bordering on crazy, happened, her reactions didn’t surprise me. Of course she did that, of course it was believable (even if when you tell your husband in the kitchen after midnight it’s so not) and of course I was so emotionally involved.

Buckets of tears involved.

Would I recommend it? I’d call this trilogy a tear soaked, romantic adventure. If that kind of thing is your style go pick them up – all of them. They only get better as they go!

Find the trilogy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

A Single Step by Georgia Rose

A Single Step by Georgia Rose

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A Single Step is a romantic suspense and book 1 of The Grayson trilogy. Emma Grayson is getting her life slowly back together after the tragic death of her child. She applies for a new job as a stable manager at Melton Manor for Lord Cavendish in a positive move forward with her life.

Everyone is very helpful and the job and the facilities are very generous, all except the Estate Manager Trent who is cold and domineering. Emma wasn’t his first choice of person for the job and he makes her feel like an incapable female. His manor brings out the feisty side in Emma even more.

After a fall from a horse Emma is forced to accept help from Trent and when it’s time for him to leave she realises she doesn’t want him to go, is the brick wall around her heart coming down brick by brick? Then just when you think you know what’s going to happen, Wham! the story has a sinister turn.

I really wasn’t sure about this story, it has a very slow start and it took a long time for me to warm to the plot and the characters, but then suddenly the action began when Emma fell from her horse and the book got my attention to the very end. There’s no cliff hanger so I don’t know what to expect in the next book in the series, but I’m intrigued enough to add it to my TBR list.

 

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Good Deeds Challenge Year 2, Week 44

Welcome to my second Year of Good Deeds, a challenge I set myself during April 2013. I decided to do at least one Good Deed a day for a whole year, now I am into my second year.

This week I’ve been doing the following;

February 15th – A lovely sunny day, I went out in the fresh air tidying the front gardens on mine and my neighbours house.

February 16th – Today I’ve been reading A Single Step by Georgia Rose. Just had to close my review list, I have around 50 books to review and I need time to get them done.

February 17th – Walked to the post box and saw a neighbour had left her keys hanging in her car door that was parked on the road, so knocked on her door to let her know. Today I read Humming by Rachel McAlpine A book set in New Zealand one of my favourite countries.

February 18th – Finished reading The Long and The Short by Jan Ruth picked up litter on my walk and at the supermarket.

February 19th – Read Septembers by Christopher Prendergast and posted my review on Amazon, it’s a debut short novel which I described as noir fiction.

February 20th – My lunchtime walk and litter picking today, plus I finished reading Destroyed by L.A Starkey, book 2 in the Soul Keeper YA Greek Gods series.

February 21st – Exciting news Terry Tyler’s sequel to Kings and Queens is out today, so I’ve sent out some tweets to help promote Last Child.

I’ve been reading Loved and Lost by Allison Christie.

Rosie’s Book Review Team #RBRT Suraya reviews A Single Step by Georgia Rose

Today’s review comes from team member Suraya, find her at http://www.thestorymint.com

Suraya has been reading A Single Step by Georgia Rose

A Single Step – Georgia Rose

A Single Step

By Georgia Rose

‘A Single Step’ would suit anyone looking for a relaxing summer read. The story line follows the romance trajectory and has all the elements fans of this genre expect: emotionally bruised and wary heroine, gruff, handsome hero with a history, grand estate, a mystery woman, horses, unexplained events like a fire, and secret business activities.

The main character, Emma, is the narrator and the reader sees the world from her point of view. She grew up in foster care, after her parents presumably died in a car accident. She marries her first love at 18 years old and leaves him when she finds out he is unfaithful.

She picks up her emotionally bruised self and sets out to make a new life. She is determined to show the world she needs no help from anyone.

‘A Single Step’ is easy to read although I did wish the author had not fallen into the trap of using dialogue as expository where the writer uses a character to describe events in place of narrative.

An enjoyable and undemanding read.

Four stars

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Good Deeds Challenge Year 2, Week 29

Welcome to my second Year of Good Deeds, a challenge I set myself during April 2013. I decided to do at least one Good Deed a day for a whole year, now I am into my second year.

This week I’ve been doing the following;

November 2nd – Day 2 of Mystery November saw Della Connor’s book Spirit Warriors: The Scarring, second book in her series and definitely getting into the mystery role. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5LW

Poppies are still being sold all over and I donated more money to the appeal this afternoon.

November 3rd – My morning at school helping children learn to read. Day 3 of the mystery Tour, The Singing Bowl by Roy Dimond the epic journey around the world that a monk takes to find a lost book. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5LU

November 4th – Day 4 of the Mystery book tour and it The Ties That Bind by E.L. Lindley. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5QS Sorting out a pile of book reviews for the December issues of the magazines I write for.

November 5th –  A Single Step by Georgia Rose is our Day 5 book on the mystery tour. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5UJ Spent all day inside in the warm reading like a demon to get another book read and reviewed.

November 6th – Off shopping, saw our oldest child still at the bus stop, picked her up and made a detour to college, spotted the bus broken down in town, picked up a second child on route. Did the embarrassing parent thing, wound down the window to tell other students that the bus had broken down, was only allowed to do this once!  Day 6 on the mystery tour Terry Tyler and Nobody’s Fault. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5ST

November 7th – Mystery Book Tour Day 7 and it’s the turn of Carol Hedges with her book Diamonds & Dust http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5Pt

November 8th – It’s the turn of Geoffrey West today on the Mystery November tour with his book Doppelganger http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5LK

This week my good deeds have all been around the book tour as I’ve been really busy promoting it, but of course I’m always reading books in the back ground for authors.

Mystery Book Tour Day 5 #MysteryNovember A Single Step by Georgia Rose

Welcome to Day 5 of Mystery November , our guest today is Georgia Rose and her book A Single Step.

Where is your home town?

I suppose it’s Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire as that’s my nearest town, and I’ve lived here for 28 years, though as it’s still more than 10 miles away it doesn’t feel much like home. The town that I know best is Bedford because, although I didn’t ever live there, my school life and then the first 12 years of my working life were there so it feels more like a home town to me. I haven’t moved far have I!

How long have you been writing?

I’ve only been writing fiction properly since 2012 when the story that I’m now telling came to me during one glorious week while lying on a sun bed in Gozo. Everything just slotted into place and whilst I’d made the odd feeble attempts to write something in the past, which had never made it past the first page, this time it seems it was meant to be. The beginning, middle and end came together and I’m now just hoping I can do it justice by holding it all together for the entire trilogy.

What is your favourite sub-genre of mystery?

I like all sorts if I’m reading it, particularly a gritty psychological crime thriller but I guess from a writing point of view it has to be romantic suspense. When I was first coming up with this story I wanted there to be something more to it than just a romance. I like there to be darkness in the backgrounds of my lead characters and a gradual building of suspense throughout, which I’m now finding a challenge to sustain over the three books.

Where is A Single Step set?

The setting for A Single Step is completely fictitious. Emma starts out in a village called Crowthorne but most of the book is set on the glorious estate of Melton Manor, near the village of Melton. I can see it vividly so in a way it does upset me that I can’t actually go and visit it but I also think that’s what people enjoy when they read it. Many have mentioned how they’ve loved the setting and because there are no preconceptions of it being in a particular place that can be however it’s conjured up in your mind.

What has happened to Emma in the past?

I don’t want to give too much away here but Emma has had a tragic past. Orphaned at a very early age she grows up and settles down only to face a loss so tragic that any of us would have great difficulty getting over it.

How does she take a step back into life?

With a little bit of prodding she applies for a new job at Melton Manor to manage the stables and while she goes there, with her faithful dog Susie, thinking that this is a place where she can live the solitary existence she longs for, when she gets there she finds she doesn’t quite get the isolated life she was expecting.

What is the mystery element in this book?

I don’t want to draw too much attention to some of the elements but the main ones are that right from the interview Emma attends there is an air of mystery about the estate. While on the surface it runs as an everyday agricultural enterprise there is more to it and as Emma gradually comes out of the darkness of her previous life she becomes aware that not all is what it seems.Also I have told this story in the first person so we know nothing of Trent’s background and the repercussions of this are not found out until it is almost too late and Emma is in dreadful danger.

It’s a mystery and a romance, does the story continue in the next book?

Yes it does. I think I’ve finished this one off so you’re full and satisfied when it ends, but, there are a few loose threads in there that while you’re not left feeling irritated with the lack of answers do leave some questions hanging.

Tell us what you are working on at the moment.

Well having launched the second book in The Grayson Trilogy, Before the Dawn, a few weeks ago I’ve just started on the concluding part, Thicker than Water. The story is all formed in my head; it’s just the small task now of getting the words down.

Where can readers find out more about you?

I have a website and write a blog at www.georgiarosebooks.com and you can follow my blog or contact me via this website.

My Twitter handle is @GeorgiaRoseBook and I can be found on Facebook at georgia.rose.books, as well as on Google+ and Goodreads.

The universal link to Amazon for A Single Step is http://t.co/WmKmhktPQy and is usually written as getbook.at/ASingleStep

getbook.at/ASingleStep getbook.at/ASingleStep getbook.at/ASingleStep 

Rosie’s Book review Team #RBRT Angie reviews A Single Step by Georgia Rose

Today’s Book Review comes from Angie, she blogs at http://angieslifeblog.wordpress.com/

Angie chose to read and review A Single Step by Georgia Rose

Emma Grayson applies for a job working on Melton Estate looking after the horses and stables for Lord Cavendish and after a successful interview, decides that this is the fresh start she needs to try and move on from the hurt and betrayal she has suffered over the years. It is on the estate that she first meets Trent and instantly takes a dislike to him which is just as well, since she has sworn off relationships. On top of having to deal with Trent and his moody ways, she has also had to fight off (literally) unwanted advances from some of the guys she works with and all she wanted was a life of peace, keeping herself to herself.

Trent also has secrets of his own and eventually Emma becomes more curious, wanting to know why he is always going off with Lord Cavendish for days on end and why is he so keen on making an enemy of her? Eventually Emma becomes part of Trent’s past but can she forgive him, or even worse can she forgive herself.

I should warn you that you may need a tissue for the first few chapters of this book, the authors writing is so raw; its almost as though she is telling her own story and you felt the raw emotions through the words which I think can take someone special to grip you like that. The story did drag a little in some places but nearer to the end, I was totally hooked with Trent’s secrets being unravelled.

I also liked that even though I aren’t a fan of horses and don’t understand anything about horse riding, I could understand the jargon that Georgia used throughout and found it easy to picture the scenes in my mind.

I would give this book a 3/5 rating  – romance with a twist

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Rosie’s Book Review Team #RBRT Barb reviews A Single Step by Georgia Rose

Today we have a review from Team member Barb, she blogs at http://barbtaub.com/

Barb chose to read and review A Single Step by Georgia Rose.

Here is her review.

“Oh, no,” I thought when I saw the quote from Jane Eyre at the beginning of A Single Step, Georgia Rose’s first book of The Grayson Trilogy. Despite (or perhaps because of?) my appreciation for all things Austen, this particular Brontë oeuvre has always been my least favourite. I braced myself for yet another gothic— orphaned young heroine, gloomy mansion complete with turrets, sinister servants, family members who’ve met with untimely deaths, mysteriously significant piece of jewellery, foreboding weather that mirrors the frightening events.

 

Thank you Ms. Rose for proving me wrong. Her version of gothic does indeed involve an orphaned heroine, the grieving Emma Grayson. But from that point on, Georgia Rose grabs hold of the gothic genre with both hands and makes it her own. Emma, though deeply damaged by the loss of her child and subsequent meltdown of her marriage, has a quiet inner strength that lets her rebuild her life on her own terms. She accepts a job managing the stables on an aristocratic estate, where she is soon fending off romantic offers from co-workers, and orders from her supervisor, the enigmatic Trent.

 

I don’t hesitate to give A Single Step five stars out of five. While I’m not normally a fan of careful, deliberate pacing, in this book it lets readers get to know Emma, peeling back the protective layers she’s built around her wounds. We get a picture of her quietly stubborn strength. And—this part is the most fun for an American like me—we get to see it play out in that most British of settings, the estate plus neighbouring village and pub. Yes, there are a few points that were unresolved, such as who actually slipped the advert for the new job under Emma’s door. But those are the kind of loose ends that the remaining books of the series will undoubtedly address. For now, A Single Step is the perfect first volume. Its story arc is resolved completely satisfactorily, while there are still questions that will demand answers in those next volumes.

 

If you like carefully paced, well-plotted stories which showcase the development and growth of characters, plus an irresistible glimpse into a world that most Americans would never see, I recommend A Single Step. Your only problem will be waiting.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com 

Rosie’s Book Review Team #RBRT Luccia reviews A Single Step by Georgia Rose

Today we have a review from Book Review Team Member Luccia, she blogs at http://lucciagray.com/

Luccia chose to read and review A Single Step by Georgia Rose.

Review of A Single Step (eBook 1 of the Grayson Trilogy) by Georgia Rose.

For Rosie’s Book Review Team, by Luccia Gray.

A single step is an enjoyable and entertaining, contemporary, romantic suspense novel, which I highly recommend.

It is well written with easily flowing prose, which invites the reader to sail into the smooth narrative. The author is in no rush to expose the plot, spending the first part of the novel gradually showing us where the action takes place, and who the characters are.

It is not a fleeting romance in which love at first sight leads to a brief and intense affair, followed by lifelong commitment, which often proves to be too escapist. Quite the opposite, the romance is compelling, yet presented in a ‘no rush’ approach. Tension is gradually built up, with a few twists and turns, until the incipient romance between two complex characters materializes. This well-devised, progressive build up becomes part of the enjoyment.

The suspense elements keep us gripped to the story, avidly turning page after page (I couldn’t put it down), as the characters’ motivations and backgrounds are slowly revealed. Many surprises await the reader as nobody is who they seem, even the idyllic location where the story develops, holds surprises.

I don’t want to give anything away, because I hope all of you who are looking for a cozy afternoon-evening read, will spoil yourselves and read this lovely story, but one of the characters says: ‘I enjoy the chase, and let’s face it, no one has had to chase a girl as much as I have had to chase you.’ And that’s how the readers will feel, that they have been chasing Grayson, too.

Emma Grayson, the narrator, is the most developed character. We feel we understand her tormented feelings, and sympathize with most of her actions, by the end of the novel. On the other hand, I thought it was a pity that the other characters did not come fully to life, and served mainly to support Emma. When this happens, especially when one of the characters is the only narrator, I often feel sorry for the other characters we’ve been introduced to, but are unable to get to know.

Although there is no cliffhanger ending, there are some untold stories, within the novel, and most importantly, the reader has built up an interest in Grayson, and what happens to her. As it is part of a trilogy, I trust we will discover more about the characters and events in the following installments, which I look forward to reading.

Finally, I would like to thank Georgia for gifting me a copy of her book to review, and Rosie for organising her Book Review Team, and making it all possible.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Rosie’s Book Review Team #RBRT Elizabeth reviews A Single Step by Georgia Rose

Today we have a review from book review team member Elizabeth, she blogs at http://lizannelloyd.wordpress.com/

Elizabeth chose to read and review A Single Step by Georgia Rose.

Here is Elizabeth’s review.

A Single Step by Georgia Rose

“A Single Step” begins with the ideal setting for a romance. Emma Grayson is starting a new life at Melton Manor, a large well organised estate, where she will manage the stables and groom the family horses. She soon meets the large friendly estate staff and despite her reticence to become involved she makes several friends. The only drawback is Trent, the stern Estate Manager, who appears, to the independent Emma, to be controlling and overbearing.

We gradually learn about Emma’s tragic past and why she is reluctant to become involved in a relationship even with the charming and helpful Carlton. She proves herself to be competent and enjoys her life with the horses and the two young children who come to ride.

It is pleasing to see the way in which Em’s prickly exterior is broken down and passion begins to emerge as she is enticed into love in spite of her attempts to sublimate her feelings. But there is evidence that Melton Manor is not paradise after all. Trent and his employer Lord Cavendish disappear for several days at a time, often travelling in a military style helicopter. Emma is involved in an accident caused by a mysterious stranger. She begins to fear for her life and future happiness.

After the first few pages, which brim with self-conscious prose, the book springs to life in the dialogue between Emma and Lord Cavendish. Their characters are quickly established and this made me want to read on. The story is filled with detail, especially about how to look after horses which for me was not especially interesting but the well-crafted plot, strong characterisation and thrilling denouement made this book an excellent read.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com