The Mercury Travel Club by Helen Bridgett #BlogTour @RedDoorBooks

So today I am delighted to welcome you to The Mercury Travel Club blog tour.

About this book…

He took her to dinner that was annoying

He slept with her that was hurtful

He bought new underwear to impress her quite frankly astounding

He left me to bloody wash his FILTHY WHORING PANTS INFURIATING!

After twenty-four years and eleven months of marriage, Angie Shepherd is divorced, dejected and facing a future of cardigans and cats. Best friend Patty is having none of it, and launches Angie into a variety of crazy schemes in search of her lost mojo.

But it s just not enough; what she really dreams of is beating her ex and becoming Entrepreneur of the Year. Channelling her inner Richard Branson, Angie invests her divorce settlement into The Mercury Travel Club, a travel agency with a twist. But as the club gets going, things don t go according to plan, and in this digital age, a little chaos brings the recognition Angie s been looking for.

Witty, entertaining and laugh-out-loud funny, this feel-good novel shows that it s never too late for a second chance.

My review…

Oh this book came along at just the right time for me! After some dark and creepy crime reads, to pick up a funny and unputdownable book about a woman of a similar age to myself really did lift my spirits and keep my mind off real life for a few hours. This is Helen Bridgetts debut novel and what an achievement it is! In fact, I was left feeling quite bereft at having finished it until I wrote this review and realised when I researched the author that we will be seeing lots more of The Mercury Travel Club and I can’t wait.

Poor old Angie doesn’t even get a Silver wedding party after her marriage ends after 24 years and 11 months. Her emotions when she moves into her small rented accommodation on her own were very much heart felt as there was a fine line between that fresh start as a single woman and mourning the end of a very long relationship. Obviously I detested her husband Alan and his new partner Amanda (the A team) for hurting the lovely Angela but as time goes by we see a new Angela emerge from the ashes of her divorce and are cheering her on in her vision of a becoming an entrepreneur with her new business enterprise. Honestly, getting rid of Alan is the best thing Angie has done-she is like a butterfly emerging from her cocoon, becoming an inspiration for divorced women everywhere showing that it’s never too late to live your dreams.

I engaged totally with Angela from the moment I met her, as you can probably tell, and mentally helped push through the obstacles placed before her in her quest for happiness. And although there were a few romantic dalliances throughout, I enjoyed the fact that it wasn’t a new man that was the sole purpose in her quest for a new life. When I was a little girl, women in their fifties seemed like old ladies in the way they dressed and behaved but now 50 is the new 30 it’s fabulous to have books celebrating this whole new generation of women putting themselves first and having fun doing it.

This is a feel good read that you will probably want to read in one session but be warned your cheeks will hurt at the end of it from laughing out loud and smiling constantly. Recommended by me!

The Mercury Travel Club: Where the chaos comes free is published by Red Door Publishing on 16th March 2017 and is available to purchase on Amazon UK.

Meet the author…

Helen Bridgett was born in North-East England and now lives in Manchester having stopped off at a few places in between. Having failed miserably with every New Year’s resolution that involved giving up food or drink, one year, she set herself a completely different goal – to write a novel and give it as a Christmas present. The Mercury Travel Club was born and the characters took on a life of their own. Outside of writing, Helen loves hiking and wine – not usually at the same time.

Helen is currently developing the next novels in The Mercury Travel Club series.

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Because I Was Lonely by Hayley Mitchell #BlogTour @RedDoorBooks @HayleyMitchellc

Happy Valentines Day everyone! I’m delighted to be on my first blog tour today for Red Door Publishing and what a book to start off with-Because I Was Lonely the debut novel by Hayley Mitchell. 

About the book…

Meet Rachel. She is caught in a spiral of endless crying, dirty nappies, and sleepless nights. She fears for her sanity and the safety of her children.

She’s lonely.

Meet Adam. Suffering from the pain and trauma of a terrible accident that he blames himself for, he stays at home, unable to bring himself to leave the house.

He’s lonely.

So when Rachel and Adam rekindle their long lost friendship online, what starts as a little harmless flirtation, soon becomes an unhealthy obsession, and slowly the threads of their lives unravel before them.

Four lonely people . Two unhappy marriages . One dangerous, but inevitable climax.

My review…

I had seen some stunning reviews of this book before I picked it up to read so I was rather worried after the first forty or so pages that it wasn’t going to be for me! The description of Rachel and her descent into mental illness, a severe case of post natal depression, was so achingly lifelike and realistic that I found it very hard to read and my own mood dipped accordingly. Added to the mix was my pure rage and frustration at David and his inability to cope with, or even really see, what was happening to his wife. His total lack of support and understanding was tough to read but then my feelings started to shift. I heard David’s side of the story and realised maybe things weren’t quite as straightforward as I had first concluded. And when Adam and Julia’s story started to unfold, the book began to weave its spell over me. Adam’s mental health issues hit me in the face with such a deeply fierce and raw emotion that I was then utterly hooked. So do make sure you don’t give up on this book because the more you read, the most unputdownable it becomes!

Both Adam and Rachel are lonely in their marriages due to the problems overwhelming their everyday lives. But a chance “like” on a Facebook post starts an online relationship between the two old friends. And part two of the book is when it becomes a hugely powerful psychological suspense that I physically couldn’t put down and my initial reaction was forgotton. Once the two of them start to private message, I was gripped, watching with a fascination and mounting horror  as these two damaged individuals began a potentially dangerous obsession.

This is a dark and disturbing book, perfectly pitched and filled with characters I mostly disliked, but it was absolutely riveting with its “car crash” of a storyline that I couldn’t tear my eyes away from. Hayley Mitchell has completely captured the feelings experienced by her characters in this snapshot of modern day loneliness. Her intelligent and probing writing style has produced a very self assured debut novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. I can’t wait to read more from Hayley Mitchell and she is definitely a name to watch out for in the future.

My thanks to Anna at Red Door Publishing for my review copy of Because I Was Lonely.

Because I Was Lonely is released on March 2nd 2017 and is available to purchase from Amazon UK.

Meet the author…

Hayley Mitchell spends most of the time writing books in her head and was finally able to put finger to keyboard and capture some of those words in the form of her debut novel Because I Was Lonely.

A law graduate she has spent most of her life working with people and much of her career as an advice worker for charities. Always fascinated by people and their relationships she began to write fiction. She is very lucky to live in Wiltshire with her husband, whose support has been invaluable and their two children who amuse, inspire and exhaust her everyday. She now divides her time between her family, running a small business encouraging creativity in children and writing her second novel.