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The Croatian Idland Library by Eva Glyn #BlogTour #BookReview Plus a #Giveaway #RachelsRandomResources @rararesources @JaneCable @0neMoreChapter_

17 Jan 2026 2 Comments

by Ritu in Blog Tours Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blog Tour, Blogger, Blogging, Book Tour, Eva Glyn, One More Chapter, Rachel's Random Resources

Today, I am thrilled to be on the blog tour for Eva Glyn’s The Croatian Island Library.

The Blurb

Where books are borrowed, and friendships are forged…

When her beloved grandfather dies, Ana Meštrović buys a catamaran in his memory, which she names Dida Krila – Grandad’s Wings.

For the summer months, it will be transformed into a travelling library, delivering books to children living across the Croatian islands.

Joined by crew members Natali, a young mechanic afraid of her own shadow, and Lloyd, an older widower who needs a fresh start, the newly-formed trio all have their own reasons for needing the floating library to be a success.

Embarking on an adventure that will change them for good, they each discover that a new chapter is only a boat ride away…

Purchase – https://mybook.to/CroatianIslandLibrary

My Review

The Croatian Island Library by Eva Glyn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love Eva Glyn’s books, and The Croatian Island Library is no different.
Picture this; a floating library, sailing to several Croatian islands, to bring the written word in different languages to the younger generation. Sounds wonderful!
Three characters are the focus. Ana, a woman with a boat, trying to follow her passions without disappointing her family; Lloyd, an Englishman still grieving his wife, with a deep hidden connection to one island; and Natali, a young woman, with little formal education, aspirations but low confidence, and with a cute little dog, Obi, to add to the mix.
There was so much happening in the story, connected but separate, too, and it all ties in so well, with each of the main characters going through some well-written character arcs.
The description of each place leaves vivid images in the mind, and various delicacies mentioned get the taste buds tingling!
And little Obi is just a pleasure to read about! Gotta love a dog in a book!
Many thanks to HarperCollins, One More Chapter, for an ARC.

About the Author

Eva Glyn writes escapist relationship-driven fiction with a kernel of truth at its heart. She loves to travel and finds inspiration in beautiful places and the stories they hide.

Set mainly in Croatia, her contemporary stories are more about friendship than romance, the coming together of people through shared interests, and the opportunity to make fresh starts in their lives. Her latest book, The Santorini Writing Retreat, is her first set in Greece.

In addition Eva has written two Second World War dual timeline romances, An Island of Secrets and The Collaborator’s Daughter. All her books are published by One More Chapter, a division of Harper Collins.

Although she considers herself Welsh, Eva lives in Cornwall with the man she met and fell in love with more than thirty years ago. She also writes as Jane Cable.

Social Media Links –

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EvaGlynAuthor

Twitter: @JaneCable

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evaglynauthor/

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/eva-glyn

Giveaway To Win a paperback copy of The Croatian Island Library (Open to UK & Ireland Only)

*Terms and Conditions –UK & Ireland entries welcome. Please enter using the Gleam box below. The winner will be selected at random via Gleam from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

https://gleam.io/Pm4Hb/win-a-paperback-copy-of-the-croatian-island-library-open-to-uk-ireland-only

The Santorini Writing Retreat by Eva Glyn #BlogTour #BookReview Plus a #Giveaway #RachelsRandomResources @rararesources @JaneCable @0neMoreChapter_

25 May 2025 4 Comments

by Ritu in Blog Tours Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blog Tour, Blogger, Blogging, Book Tour, Eva Glyn, One More Chapter, Rachel's Random Resources

Today, I am thrilled to be on the blog tour for Eva Glyn’s The Santorini Writing Retreat.

The Blurb

Bestselling author Jessica Rose needs to escape from a terrible secret that’s robbed her of her creativity. Could leading a retreat on a gorgeous Greek island be just what she needs?

Coming home to Santorini was never in Zina’s plans, but now she’s determined to make her new business a success.

And then there’s Karmela, who just wants to write her book and make her mother proud.

In the heat of their Greek island paradise, these new friends find the courage to shape their own stories, and write endings they can all be proud of…

My Review

The Santorini Writing Retreat: Escape to Greece in 2025 with this joyful new novel about friendship, lost love and hidden stories! by Eva Glyn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Having read the Dubrovnik Book Club last year, I was thrilled to read this book by Eva Glyn.
And the added plus for me was that one character was someone I had met before!
Set in Santorini, we meet Zina and Lambros, a young married couple who have shifted back to Zina’s family farm, away from Athens, to support her widowed mother and give Lambros a chance to balance his wellbeing and mental health.
He busies himself with building the farm back to what it used to be, and Zina creates a luxurious space where retreats can be held.
Her first is one for writers, hosted by a famous author who writes under a pen name and several unpublished writers looking to be tutored and guided by this person.
A colourful group of people congregate for a month-long retreat, including Karmela, whom we met in a previous book.
There are secrets, love stories, relationship difficulties, and much more tackled within the story, all set in a beautiful rural part of a country well-known for its tourism attraction beauty.
I enjoyed this read and was fully invested in the story, wanting to know what would happen to all the characters at the end!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins One More Chapter for an ARC.

About the Author

Eva Glyn writes escapist relationship-driven fiction with a kernel of truth at its heart. She loves to travel and finds inspiration in beautiful places and the stories they hide.

Although she considers herself Welsh, Eva lives in Cornwall with the man she met and fell in love with more than thirty years ago. She also writes as Jane Cable.

Social Media Links –

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EvaGlynAuthor

Twitter: @JaneCable

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evaglynauthor/

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/eva-glyn

Giveaway to Win a paperback copy of The Santorini Writing Retreat (Open INT)

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/33c69494615/?

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

The Gatsby Gambit by Claire Anderson-Wheeler #BlogTour #Book Review @dialoguepub @FMcMAssociates

01 Apr 2025 Leave a comment

by Ritu in Blog Tours, Reviews Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blog Tour, Blogger, Blogging, Book Review

A great murder mystery!

The Blurb

Set in the gilded opulence of the Roaring Twenties comes a unique, transporting
and thrilling homage to the world of The Great Gatsby, in which murder comes
to visit the world’s most beloved literary characters. As well as an addictive and
immersive murder mystery, The Gatsby Gambit is also a clever examination of
class, social structure and what it meant to be a woman in the 1920s, from an
exciting new voice.
1922: You are cordially invited to summer at the Gatsby Mansion in West Egg, with
the most illustrious – and the deadliest – guest list.
Freshly twenty-one and sporting a daring new bob, Greta Gatsby– younger sister
to the infamous Jay– is finally free of finishing school. An idyllic summer stretches
ahead of her at the Gatsby Mansion, the jewel of West Egg.

But when Greta arrives at the secluded white-stone estate bathed in the late-afternoon light, she finds she isn’t
the only visitor. Jay is hosting an intimate gathering of New York’s fashionable set: Daisy and Tom Buchanan, along
with his brother Edgar, Nick Carraway and Jordan Baker.
That evening, the guests enjoy a candelabra-lit dinner party. That night, they dance to the lilt of the gramophone.
The next morning, one of them is missing.
Murder has come to West Egg, the warm breeze tainted by scandal, betrayal and secrets. Turning sleuth isn’t how
Greta meant to spend her summer – but what choice does she have when one of them could be next?

My Review

The Gatsby Gambit by Claire Anderson Wheeler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A thoroughly enjoyable murder mystery set in a wealthy household in America.
The Gatsbys are not rich by birth, but rather through hard work and sheer grit. A brother and sister team, Jay and Greta now mix with the upper echelons of society, though there are always people not there who like to remind them they are not the same at the other monied families.
The story centers around a summer where Greta finally finishes all the schooling her brother provided, and she is looking forward to the future.
When she arrives, she is a bit disappointed to find the house already full of some of her brothers wealthy friends, apparently here to stay for a little while.
After accepting she is not getting time with her brother alone, first, she settles into her first day home.
Peace is not longlasting as the body of one of the guests is discovered, and what ensues is a journey to try and find the truth.
Was it suicide or murder?
I wasn’t sure I would get into the story, initially, and it’s quite a long book, however within a couple of chapters, i was hooked, and i read it all within three days!
I enjoyed the twists and turns as different pieces of evidence were unravelled, and I found myself doubting the character of several of the people. The final conclusion was not something I anticipated at all.
All in all, a jolly good read!

About the Author

Claire Anderson-Wheeler grew up in Dublin, Geneva, and Brussels. She studied Law at Trinity College, Dublin, and holds a Masters in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. She works in Publishing and this is her debut novel. Claire first read The Great Gatsby on holiday when she was fourteen, and has revisited it often since. She currently lives in Boston with her partner.

Prickly Company by Kitty Johnson #blogtour @fmcmassociates

27 May 2024 9 Comments

by Ritu in Blog Tours Tags: #BlogTour, #BookReview, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging

I am delighted to be a part of the blog tour for this book, Prickly Company by Kitty Kohnson.

Frances Mathews doesn’t get out much since her husband died, but her fondness for the hedgehogs who pass through her garden prompts her to start a campaign to create a hedgehog highway in Hilltop Place―feeding stations, holes at the bottoms of gates and fences, and wild garden areas for hibernation. To Frances’s delight, her neighbours are on board. Mostly.

There are Jess and Michael, whose marriage is cracking under the unanticipated strain of a recent adoption. And Ryan, a wounded war reporter struggling to connect with his son after a divorce and forced to return to live with his mother. Then there’s the glamourous Tara and her daughter Hermie, new to the neighbourhood and already ruffling feathers. Finally, there’s Justin and Helen, a houseproud couple who are not keen to upend their picture-perfect garden for prickly nuisances.

Before long, the Hilltop Place hedgehog highway is thriving, and new friendships are springing up all over the neighbourhood. But with new friendships, secrets are revealed. What Frances and her charitable neighbours soon discover about themselves, and each other, is hardly what any of them expected. The peaceful neighbourhood will find itself threatened in ways that affect them all … hedgehogs included.

My review

Prickly Company by Kitty Johnson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which provides some great information about Hedgehogs and how we can help this endangered animal. It also takes us through the rollercoaster lives of the residents of Hilltop Place.
Frances is a widow who isn’t interested in learning how to live in the now, preferring to live in the comfort of the past. She starts the campaign to create a hedgehog highway when the animals she has come to love come to harm.
Then there is Jess and Michael, a couple with their own upsets, trying to complete their family with a difficult adoption.
Tara is a single mum with a bit of a reputation.
Irene lives in the Place and has her son, Ryan, living with her, having come back from a war zone with life-changing injuries.
Then there’s Justin and Helen, the epitome of a perfect couple, hiding their secrets.
There are some real twists and turns through the book, as the residents live entwined with one another, as they also help the hedgehogs along the way.
A real twist at the end, too!
Enjoyed this.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kitty Johnson is the author of Five Winters. She has an MA in creative writing from the
University of East Anglia and teaches occasional creative writing classes. A nature lover
and artist, Kitty enjoys walking in woodland and on the coast and makes collages and
paitings from the landscape. She loves a challenge and once performed stand-up comedy
as research for a book ― an experience she found very scary but hugely empowering.
Kitty lives in Norwich, Norfolk with her partner and teenage son. For more information,
visit http://www.kittyjohnsonbooks.com.

The Faberge Girl by Ina Christova #blogtour

08 May 2024 8 Comments

by Ritu in Blog Tours Tags: #BlogTour, #BookReview, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging

I am delighted to be a part of the blog tour for this translated text, The Faberge Girl, by Ina Christova.

1909, St Petersburg. Seventeen-year-old Alma longs to work at the legendary House of Fabergé, with its talented artisans, winding staircases, secret golden elevator, and glasshouse of tropical plants. But instead, Alma must sketch quietly in her room, inspired by magical visions that could have her accused of witchcraft, whilst her domineering brother presents her designs as his own.

But then comes an opportunity. With the help of a Finnish artisan Knut, she attracts the attention of Carl Fabergéhimself and is given a job at the House of Fabergé. Alma’s creations attract widespread acclaim, and her star is on the rise. But the world around her is increasingly divided, as the Revolution creeps ever nearer. Alma will be forced to decide what matters most to her. Can love, art and beauty survive such hatred and violence?

At once a poignant love story, a magical coming of age tale and a haunting and evocative account of one of Russia’s darkest periods of history, Ina Christova’s transporting debut is based on the incredible true story of Alma Pihl, the only female jewellery designer at the House of Fabergé and her journey during the age of silver culture in St Petersburg.

My review

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It is a beautiful story based on the real life of Faberge’s only female artisan.
Alma is only 17 and dreams of joining her brother, working as an artisan in the House of Faberge, where her father also worked.
But this is not a time when women would have been accepted in this light.
Alma has a talent for her sketches that she cannot realise; instead, she sends ideas via her brother.
There is a worry that Alma is ‘inflicted’ with some power that others will think is witchcraft, where her imagination takes flight, and she finds herself immersed in strange scenarios and situations. While this happens, she goes into trances, which her family goes to great lengths to hide, for fear of her being locked up in a monastery to be ‘cured’.
However, her dream becomes a reality when Knut, another artisan, helps her meet Carl Faberge himself to present her sketches.
As the revolution begins to take hold of the country and St. Petersburg, where they live, Alma gets sucked into different perils after befriending a young man who becomes one of the leaders of the resistance groups.
There is a lot to unpick in this story, but I really did enjoy reading it. Having visited St Petersburg, I could imagine certain places, and with a connection to Finland, too, I was more than enamoured of this book.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ina Christova is a Bulgarian writer. When not travelling around the world, she splits her time between London and Oxford. She completed an MA in English and German Literature where she was the recipient of the Eleanor Boyle and Kathleen Major prizes for her writing. Ina’s work has been longlisted for the Blue Pencil First Novel Awards and it won this year’s Novel London Literary Competition. The first draft of The Fabergé Girl was completed on the selective Curtis Brown Creative Course in London.