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Lizzie Chantree. The Woman Who Felt Invisible

The woman who felt invisible.

I’m delighted to share the blurb and an extract from Lizzie Chantree’s latest book, which is out today x

Blurb

An exciting, romantic story of love and new beginnings. Learning to love herself and be content on her own is the first step. But will Olivia be able to leave her past behind, follow her heart and find lasting happiness? A read full of humour, romance and tear-jerking reality, from international bestselling author, Lizzie Chantree.

Have you ever felt invisible? 

Working as a stationery supervisor and a sitter to a pair of internet famous, delinquent dogs, wasn’t how former cyber-specialist, Olivia, imagined her life turning out. 

Working in a tiny cubicle with a decrepit computer and being overlooked had suited her for a while, but now she’s fed up, lonely and determined to make the world ‘see’ her again. 

Old school friend, Darius, wants to fill Olivia’s days with romance, but their love of technology has taken them on very different paths. 

Gorgeous undercover policeman Gabe, is steadfast in finding out if Olivia was part of an online scam, but something doesn’t feel right and he suspects someone else was manipulating her life. 

Can love blossom from the most deceptive of starts? And can someone who feels lost, find a way to flourish against all odds?

Available to buy HERE

The woman who felt invisible, by Lizzie Chantree.

Excerpt:

This was it. This was Olivia Tenby’s life, now. This was how low she had come. At the age of forty-one, she was sweating her guts out in a house that felt like a furnace, babysitting two delinquent Labradoodle dogs called Bertie and Belle, while their owners swanned around getting even richer somewhere else. Wiping her palms across her face, feeling glad she’d discarded her top so that she couldn’t drip on it, she pressed a button. Music blared out of speakers set into the ceiling. This house had everything – lights that came on when you spoke to them, a vacuum cleaner that tripped you over while it scurried along the floor of its own accord, and a fridge that dispensed perfectly shaped ice cubes into crystal glasses.

Olivia looked around furtively for a moment, and then laughed and decided to go for it. Her job as dog sitter extraordinaire had begun two weeks ago. She’d been told to entertain the excitable animals in any way she could think of, as they were naughty and destroyed everything while the owners were out – which they always were. Olivia hadn’t even met them, which was baffling. They left her notes with instructions on how to stop the dogs eating the walls and making a mess of the thick pile carpets. She actually quite liked the job, it was as easy as walking in a straight line. Then she thought about how wobbly she always was after three vodka and cokes, and quickly pushed that picture aside. The dogs were bored and, although her job included giving the house a cursory swipe with a duster, it was always immaculate when she arrived. Something was a bit weird, though, as the place was incredibly hot. The dogs liked to slobber all over her, making her even hotter. So she’d taken to stripping off as soon as she sat down with the pooches, otherwise she’d probably pass out and be found weeks later, mummified in dog hair.

About Lizzie

International bestselling author and award-winning inventor, Lizzie Chantree, started her own business at the age of 18 and became one of Fair Play London and The Patent Office’s British Female Inventors of the Year in 2000. She discovered her love of writing fiction when her children were little and now works as a business mentor and runs a popular networking hour on social media, where creatives can support to each other. She writes books full of friendship and laughter, that are about women with unusual and adventurous businesses, who are far stronger than they realise. She lives with her family on the coast in Essex. Visit her website at http://www.lizziechantree.com or follow her on Twitter @Lizzie_Chantree https://twitter.com/Lizzie_Chantree.

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Buried Lies Book Launch (includes excerpt)

I’m delighted to announce that BURIED LIES, the fifth in my Detective Gaby Darin series, is out today. A huge thank you to HQ Digital for all their help and hard work on this one.

This book takes place during Amy’s wedding, who some of you will remember is the family liaison officer for the North Wales MIT and Gaby’s best friend. The weather is hot and tempers are frayed, including Dr Rusty Mulholland’s, so settle down and enjoy the ride…

The blurb, an excerpt and buying links are below. I do hope you enjoy,

Thanks,

Jenny x

HER PARTNER. HER SON. SHE’S NEXT.

Hannah Thomas returns home one morning to every mother’s worst nightmare: a missing child and a dead fiancé. When DI Gaby Darin questions her, Hannah insists she can’t think of anyone who’d want to hurt her family – and yet it all feels disturbingly personal.

Mere hours into the investigation, a second body is found. As Gaby and her team dig into the victims’ lives, they hit dead ends at every turn – particularly when it comes to Hannah’s past. What is the grieving woman hiding?

But when Gaby stumbles upon Hannah’s tragic secret, it doesn’t bring her any closer to the truth. Can she connect the dots before the killer strikes again?

EXCERPT

BURIED LIES, HQ Digital

Chapter 1

Hannah

Saturday 22 August, 10.55 p.m. Ruthin

‘I thought we’d try this next.’ Milly placed the glasses carefully on the table before flopping down on the seat opposite. ‘Blue Bottle Gin as recommended by the barman, no less.’

‘I’m not sure I’d notice the difference, not after all that wine,’ Hannah said, lifting up the glass and running her hand over the little blackberry etched onto the surface.

‘It’s award-winning apparently,’ Milly went on. ‘Good gin is like good coffee – one of life’s essentials, and if we can’t treat ourselves, it’s unlikely anyone else will.’ She raised her glass in a brief toast and took a long sip. ‘Bloody divine, as is the barman by the way.’

‘Ha. You can keep him. Not my type.’

‘You do surprise me. So, what is your type? Certainly not Ian or you’d be married by now.’ Milly stopped, a sudden gleam in her eye. ‘I know, let’s play Truth or Dare.’

‘I don’t really think—’

‘No need to think, hon. I’ll go first.’

‘Oh, come on, Milly. Really! I haven’t played in years.’

‘And what about it? Now’s the time to reacquaint yourself. Far better than I-spy or twiddling your thumbs checking out Bruce the barman,’ Milly said, making a point of glancing in his direction. ‘I have first dibs, by the way, as you’re already taken.’

‘You’re incorrigible! Although he is quite cute, apart from the man bun, which I don’t get on any level.’

‘Hah. I never thought you’d be so fussy. I’ll go first.’

‘But I never agreed to . . .’ Hannah glanced at her phone and the text that had pinged through.

A boring night in with a curry and my best boy. You enjoy, my love. See you soon xx

Milly settled her glass down on the table with a little bang, presumably to regain Hannah’s attention.

‘So, truth or dare?’

‘Hold on a mo. I just need to reply to this,’ she said, her fingers tapping away on the screen.

Hannah hated games of any sort apart from possibly Snakes and Ladders and, after the bottle of wine they’d managed with their meal, she was well on the way to being plastered[J1] . But with Milly staring at her with an eager expression pinned to her glossy lips, she felt she had little choice. She remembered back to the last time she’d played. A similar set-up but then there’d been more people around the table – four nurses intent on a good time. The dares had been increasingly obscene so . . .

‘Truth then, if we must,’ she said finally, dropping her phone back onto the table, her expression as resigned as her tone.

‘We must! Don’t worry. I’ll be gentle. So, how many times has he tried to set a date for the wedding?’

Hannah laughed, settling back in her chair. ‘To be truthful, I have no idea. Must be fifty by now.’

‘Aren’t you the lucky one . . . And when are you going to put him out of his misery?’

Never! Marrying Ian was never going to happen, despite accepting his ring in a moment of weakness. But that was something she wasn’t prepared to tell Milly.

‘That’s two questions. My turn,’ she said, suddenly remembering the rules of the game with a little sigh of relief. ‘Truth or dare?’

‘Oh, truth then.’

‘Would you take Liam back if he asked?’

‘Not on your nelly, even if hell froze over and the moon turned to cheese, and before you ask why, I’ll tell you. He had his chance. One measly chance to stay faithful. If he did it once who’s to say he wouldn’t do it again.’ She sat back, her glass aloft and her smile back. ‘My go. Truth or dare?’

Hannah didn’t know Milly all that well but she knew she didn’t trust her when it came to pranks. At work she was always the one with the loudest laugh and the wildest of ideas. She probably had something in mind that would be mega embarrassing or completely gross.

‘Truth then.’

‘I don’t think you trust me, Hannah,’ Milly said with a chuckle. ‘Okay. Truth it is. Mm, what will it be?’ She propped her chin on her fingertip, pretending to think. ‘Oh, I know. Someone asked me this a while ago. I found it really tricky but you’ll probably do better. What’s the one thing you could change about your life up to now if you could, and why?’

Hannah froze, the colour leaching from her cheeks. Her attention shifted from Milly to her glass, which she picked up and held between both hands like a lifeline.

To choose one thing over the many. Milly couldn’t possibly realise that she’d given Hannah the hardest question of all. Hannah viewed her life like a house of cards but one where someone had removed the foundations, leaving chaos behind. She didn’t like to dwell on the past. It was a very unhappy place but if she could come up with the catalyst that had changed the course of everything, it would have to be before meeting Ian. Even before Hunter’s birth. Way before that.

‘The plane crash that killed both my parents and my brother.’

Available here

You can also follow me on social media here…


 

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Buried Lies by Jenny O’Brien. Cover Reveal

Hi everyone,

It’s been a while. Today I’m here to reveal the cover of book 5 in my Gaby Darin series. I think the team over at HQ Digital, including Dushi, Aud and Helena have done a marvellous job. I do hope you agree. Roll on November 17th, but may the sun still be shining as it is today.

Jenny x

HER PARTNER. HER SON. SHE’S NEXT.

Hannah Thomas returns home one morning to every mother’s worst nightmare: a missing child and a dead fiancé. When DI Gaby Darin questions her, Hannah insists she can’t think of anyone who’d want to hurt her family – and yet it all feels disturbingly personal. 

Mere hours into the investigation, a second body is found. As Gaby and her team dig into the victims’ lives, they hit dead ends at every turn – particularly when it comes to Hannah’s past. What is the grieving woman hiding? 

But when Gaby stumbles upon Hannah’s tragic secret, it doesn’t bring her any closer to the truth. Can she connect the dots before the killer strikes again?

Pre-order here

Unnervingly twisty, this thrilling police procedural will keep you gripped to the very last page. Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, LJ Ross and D. S. Butler.

 About Jenny O’Brien

Born in Dublin, Jenny O’Brien moved to Wales and then Guernsey, where she tries to find time to write in between working as a nurse and ferrying around 3 teenagers. In her spare time she can be found frowning at her wonky cakes and even wonkier breads. You’ll be pleased to note she won’t be entering Bake-Off. She’s also an all-year-round sea swimmer. Readers can find out more about Jenny and her books on her blog: (jennyobrienwriter.wordpress) and she can also be found on Twitter and Instagram as ‘scribblerjb’. Facebook (Jenny O’Brien Guernsey Writer) Books in series reading order, although each is stand-alone:-
THRILLERS
Silent Cry (Gaby Darin Book One)
Darkest Night ( Gaby Darin Book Two)
Fallen Angel (Gaby Darin Book Three)
Lost Souls (Gaby Darin Book Four)
Buried Lies (Gaby Darin Book Five)              
The Stepsister  
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Book Launch for Lost Souls

Gaby Darin, Book 4

I can’t believe that it’s time for the Lost Souls book launch. This is the fourth in the series of standalone books featuring Detective Gaby Darin and I do hope you like it. I’ve written book 5 in the series too and I’m currently working on book 6.

Jenny x

Book blurb

Ten-year-old Elodie Fry vanishes overnight, along with a rucksack filled with her meagre belongings. Acting DI Gaby Darin and her team are fighting the clock to reunite Elodie with her distraught mother – but was Elodie kidnapped or did she run?

Later that day, a local undertaker uncovers a nasty surprise: the remains of an unidentified second adult among a late pensioner’s ashes. Torn between the two investigations, Gaby decides the gruesome discovery at the crematorium must wait – the team are desperate to find Elodie before they lose her trail.

But as she follows the evidence, Gaby realises the two cases have a sinister connection… and there’s a killer on the loose.

Can Gaby find the missing girl alive… or is she already too late?

Full of twists and turns, this gripping thriller will keep you hooked to the end.  

Available here

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Cover Reveal. Lost Souls

Hi everyone,

I’m delighted to reveal the cover of LOST SOULS, book 4 in my Gaby Darin, Welsh-set detective series. All 4 since April last year, means that these are LOCK DOWN babies, which isn’t what any writer would have hoped for but there are worse things.

LOST SOULS is about a missing girl but it’s also about a troubled teenage boy – remember Ronan Stevens in DARKEST NIGHT? It’s a tale of two LOST SOULS on a road trip across North Wales, with Detective Gaby Darin and her team hot on their heels. Each of the thrillers are standalone. You can pre-order it here.

BOOK BLURB

A MISSING GIRL. A RACE AGAINST TIME.

Ten-year-old Elodie Fry vanishes overnight, along with a rucksack filled with her meagre belongings. Acting DI Gaby Darin and her team are fighting the clock to reunite Elodie with her distraught mother – but was Elodie kidnapped or did she run?

Later that day, a local undertaker uncovers a nasty surprise: the remains of an unidentified second adult among a late pensioner’s ashes. Torn between the two investigations, Gaby decides the gruesome discovery at the crematorium must wait – the team are desperate to find Elodie before they lose her trail.

But as she follows the evidence, Gaby realises the two cases have a sinister connection… and there’s a killer on the loose.

Can Gaby find the missing girl alive… or is she already too late?

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Five Minds, Guy Morpuss

Book review

I started reading this a few days ago and, initially, I thought I’d made a mistake, a huge one. What even is Speculative Crime Fiction anyway!

After a few pages I was hooked into a new world, manned by Workers, Andi’s, Hedonists and Communes. The focus is on Communes where five minds live in one body to preserve the earth’s limited resources.

If you can imagine an Arnie Schwarzenegger movie, The Hunger Games, Sophie’s Choice and a whodunit under one cover you’ll be on the right track. I loved it and wouldn’t be surprised if it gets optioned for a movie. But more importantly it’s broadened my reading horizons.

Jenny x

Book blurb

ONE BODY. FIVE MINDS. ONE KILLER.

The Earth’s population has finally been controlled. At the age of seventeen, you must choose how you will live. And when you will die. As an android, your mind downloaded into a synthetic body, and given eighty years. As a worker, with a natural lifespan. As a hedonist, with unlimited money and leisure, but dead at forty-two. Or as a commune, five minds sharing one body, with a combined existence of over a century.

Alex, Kate, Sierra, Ben and Mike are a commune. They have already spent twenty-five years together, arguing, reconciling, alliances shifting and re-forming. They travel to a Death Park where games are played in which time can be gambled like money. The plan is to win time to upgrade their next host body. But then Kate accepts a dangerous offer, and one of them disappears.

Someone is trying to kill off members of the commune. Is one of them responsible? Or is someone else playing a deadly game? It’s hard enough to catch a murderer. It’s almost impossible when you might be sharing a body with them…

Available to pre order here

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Introducing Judith Barrow and THE HEART STONE, out today

Hi everyone,

Today I have Judith Barrow on my blog taking about all things Wales. It’s also the book launch day for her latest book, THE HEART STONE, which I can’t wait to read. Over to you, Judith.

My Wales. My writing. My latest book.

Walking the Pembrokeshire coastal path has been one of our greatest pleasures since we came to live here forty years ago. Our favourite walk is from Porthclais  to St Non’s Chapel. Narrow in places and often very windy, it’s exhilarating, with breath-taking views. Standing high on the cliffs, looking down at the sea, watching the far out ripples of water grow into towering waves until they crash, white foam, over the jagged dark rocks, is mesmerising. The chuffs swirl and cry above us; this is their place, not ours. We can only watch, take photos, make memories.

 Often I sit and make notes, try to capture the scene in words whilst my husband captures the bay in photographs.

 The freedom to write whenever I liked was something that came as a surprise after we were married. Previously, writing was something I’d done in secret; pronounced a ‘waste of time’ by my father, it was easier if he didn’t see it. My new husband was equally surprised to be asked the question if he minded.

Not being allowed to stay on to the sixth form, I left school when I was sixteen to go into the Civil Service. It wasn’t until I was forty that I took my A level in English Literature and completed various creative writing courses. I took a script writing/drama course at Swansea University, and started a BA degree course with the Open University. This took longer than I expected due to contracting breast cancer halfway through the course. During those years I had short stories and poems published, a play performed at the Dylan Thomas Centre in Swansea and one play filmed. Eventually I gained a MA degree at what was then, Trinity College, in Carmarthen.

Shortly afterwards I was asked if I would tutor some creative writing classes for Pembrokeshire County Council, under an adult Lifelong Learning Scheme. Something I’m still doing. I will be so glad to get back to the classrooms once we can carry on in ‘real’ life.

I write family sagas which crosses various genres, and, over the last twelve years, I have been published by Honno, the longest-standing independent women’s press in the UK.

Many years ago, when someone asked me what I wrote about, I would say, ‘people and their lives’. By which I really meant families. So the main genre I write in is family sagas. But there are many sub genres within that: Romance, Historical, Crime.

My stories delve into family situations, the frequently underlying current of vying for position in a family; the clashes of personalities. Crime doesn’t only happen on the streets of towns and cities. Despite the love that is threaded through most families, there can be  jealousies and resentments, suspicions and distrusts. Whether historically from past generations, or from situations that arise, these emotions can lead to crime in some form or another.

 My Haworth trilogy: Pattern of Shadows, Changing Patterns and Living in the Shadows, is preceded by the prequel, A Hundred Tiny Threads (despite the fact that it was written last – due to the characters, the parents of the protagonist of the trilogy, Mary Haworth nagging at me to write their story). The years covered in these books span from the early nineteen hundreds to nineteen sixty-nine.

 My last book, published in 2020, The Memory, is more contemporary. Written in two parallel timelines, it is set around a memory that haunts the protagonist, Irene Hargreaves: the death of her siter, a Downs Syndrome child. Something the family will never talk about. Available here

 My next book, The Heart Stone, is due to be published on the 18th February. Again, an historical family saga, set around the time of WW1. I love writing about this era because it reminds me of my grandfather who volunteered to join the local Pals Battalion with two of his friends, although they were all underage, and it’s something I’ve researched both for my degree on The First World War and for my other books.

 Blurb

1914. Everything changes for Jessie on a day trip to Blackpool. She realises her feelings for Arthur are far more than friendship. And just as they are travelling home, war is declared.

Arthur lies about his age to join his Pals’ Regiment. Jessie’s widowed mother is so frightened, she agrees to marry Amos Morgan. Only Jessie can see how vicious he is. When he turns on her, Arthur’s mother is the only person to help her, the two women drawn together by Jessie’s deepest secret.

Facing a desperate choice between love and safety, will Jessie trust the right people? Can she learn to trust herself?

Available here

CRIME CYMRU FESTIVAL: Gŵyl CRIME CYMRU Festival.

I’m a member of Crime Cymru, an ever-growing group of crime writers in Wales. It’s an eclectic collection of authors who create stories from investigative thrillers, domestic noir, to historical crime and cosy mystery genre.

The Spring of 2022 will see the launch of Wales’s first crime festival, the Gŵyl CRIME CYMRU Festival, a weekend-long event  in Aberystwyth,.

Because of COVID 19, between April 26 – May 2, 2021 there will be a smaller online festival: Virtual CRIME CYMRU Digidol.

It’s FREE and tickets are available on the website: www.GwylCrimeCymruFestival.co.uk

Check out Crime Cymru on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @GwylCrimeCymruFestival and @Crime.Cymru.

Thank you, Judith and best of luck with your book.

About Judith

Judith Barrow, originally from Saddleworth, a group of villages on the edge of the Pennines,has lived in Pembrokeshire, Wales, for over forty years.
She has an MA in Creative Writing with the University of Wales Trinity St David’s College, Carmarthen. BA (Hons) in Literature with the Open University, a Diploma in Drama from Swansea University. She is a Creative Writing tutor for Pembrokeshire County Council and holds private one to one workshops on all genres.

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Gaby Darin Book Update

Hi everyone,

Delighted to say that the next two books in the series, no names as yet or even covers, are written.

Book Four comes out in May with HQ Digital and there’ll be more on that front very soon. A runaway girl and a homeless man on a road trip across Wales with Detective Gaby Darin and her team hot on their heels.

Caernarfon Castle

I only completed the first draft of Book Five yesterday, so I can’t tell you too much yet but it is set around Amy Potter’s (family liaison office and Gaby’s best friend) wedding. This will also be published by HQ Digital and comes out in November.

Conwy Estuary

And Book Six… I’ve already started this one – more later.

Take care and stay safe,

Jenny x

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Bookish update

Best weaver of Welsh wickedness

Hi everyone,

Thanks to everyone supporting my Welsh Murder Book posts. My blog has been very busy of late as have I! I’m currently working on writing book 5 in my Welsh-set Detective Gaby Darin series as I wait for edits on book 4, which comes out in May – title and cover launch soon along with pre-order links.

In the meantime Fallen Angel has topped 100 reviews, which is fantastic so thank you. To add to that excitement I received this lamp in the post today from Tales on Tuesday book club as the Best Weaver of Welsh Wickedness Award.

Hope you’re all okay during these strange times,

Stay safe,

Jenny x