#TuesdayBookBlog ‘Loving Vengeance’ by @GeorgiaRoseBook #HeistCrime #BookReview

January 21, 2020LucciaGray 10 Comments

Today I offer you a review of Loving Vengeance by Georgia Rose one of my favourite authors of contemporary romantic suspense.

From the Blurb

A woman with a troubled past. A new love hanging in the balance. Will an unexpected visitor strengthen her resolve or destroy the life she’s trying to build?

Madeleine’s world, once so organised, is a mess. Suffering the fallout from the mistakes she made with Tag, she has no idea where she stands with Daniel. Are they only friends or is there still a chance for something more?

Enter James – cool, calm and calculated. A stranger, she thinks. But he knows her, and he comes with an opportunity she can’t refuse, involving an enemy she’d tried to forget. At first keen to return to her past, Madeleine soon realises it’s not only the gang that’s changed, and battles her own demons as well as an unpredictable villain.

Can Daniel step up when he’s needed? Or will it be James who rides in to the rescue? Because when things go badly for Madeleine, and all hope seems lost, there is only one who can save the day. And only one who can bring more to the task than merely himself.

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My Review

Loving vengeance is the second book in the Ross Duology.

Although Loving Vengeance could be read as a standalone, I suggest reading Book 1, Parallel Lies, first. Here’s my review of Parallel Lies

This is the fifth book I’ve read by Georgia Rose, and in each one the writing gets better. It’s a compelling novel. Once you start reading Maddy’s story, the narrative grabs you and hooks you to the end!

l thoroughly enjoyed Loving Vengeance for several reasons, firstly because I had read book 1 in the series and I was wondering how Maddy’s complicated life would proceed. Both novels are set in a quaint, English village, Crowbridge, with its array of local characters, including crooks, bored housewives, mistresses, endearing old ladies, and even a writer, who often gather in the local pub. It was a pleasure to meet them again.

Secondly there is an intriguing plot including vengeance, robbery, organised crime and the low life of London, where Maddy was brought up.

Thirdly, there’s a romanic triangle in the story. Maddy is recovering from a traumatic event at the beginning of the novel (no spoilers here, you’ll have to read book one!), and she has a incipient, romantic relationship with Dan, who is helping her to overcome the trauma, but in steps a new and mysterious character, James, who shows an interest in her. Will she make the right choice?

Loving Vengeance is a page-turning novel, especially for anyone who enjoys reading well-written crime novels including romantic suspense and set in the UK.

****

Georgia Rose is a writer and the author of the romantic and suspenseful Grayson Trilogy books: A Single Step, Before the Dawn and Thicker than Water. A short story, The Joker, based on a favourite character from the series followed and is free to download from Amazon.

Her fourth novel, Parallel Lies, a standalone, encompasses crime along with Georgia’s usual blending of genre.

Following a long stint working in the law Georgia set up her own business providing administration services for other companies which she does to this day managing to entwine that work along with her writing.

Georgia’s background in countryside living, riding, instructing and working with horses has provided the knowledge needed for some of her storylines; the others are a product of her passion for people watching and her overactive imagination!

Her busy life is set in a tranquil part of rural Cambridgeshire in the UK where she lives with her much neglected husband and dog.

Georgia’s Amazon UK link

Georgia’s Amazon.com link

#TuesdayBookBlog ‘Parallel Lies’ by @GeorgiaRoseBook #BookReview

December 12, 2017December 12, 2017LucciaGray 21 Comments

‘Parallel lies” is the fourth novel I’ve read by author Georgia Rose. I enjoyed The Grayson Trilogy and was looking forward to her latest standalone novel.

Read my review of A Single Step

Read my Author Spotlight on Georgia Rose

Blurb Parallel Lies

My name is Madeleine, Madeleine Ross. It is a name chosen with thought and because it is classy, and that is what is needed here…’

Madeleine Ross has life exactly as she planned it.
Cosy cottage, friendly village, satisfying job.
Company… when she wants it.

It’s an enviable existence for an independent young woman, and one she’s keen to protect.

Enter Daniel – strong, dependable and a danger to everything she’s built. He’s not something she was looking for, but hearts can’t be controlled and maybe, just maybe he might be worth letting into hers.

But, all is not what it seems. Because Madeleine is hiding a lifetime of secrets. Deep secrets.

And they never stay buried for ever.

Her darkest secret returns, like the proverbial bad penny. He is her first love, shadowy, dangerous, the baddest of bad boys. No matter how far she runs, or how well she hides, she can never escape him.

Or her past.

Here he is, on her doorstep, with a proposition she is powerless to resist but which could devastate the future she hoped to have.

Can Madeleine satisfy the old love while keeping the new?

You can’t always get what you want but, desperate to preserve the life she has worked so hard for, Madeleine is willing to risk everything to prove that she can.

My Review of Parallel Lies

Parallel Lies is a contemporary romantic thriller set in the UK. It’s written in the present tense mostly by the main character, Madeleine Ross.

Madeleine, who has recently moved from London, is trying to live a quiet life, keeping a low profile, in the idyllic English village of Crowbridge, although it’s soon clear that she has plenty of secrets she’s not prepared to share even with the reader! Her hidden agenda is very gradually and suspensefully disclosed. She has many personal issues to deal with throughout the novel, including her promiscuous attitude to sex, which she uses to make up for her insecurities, rooted in her childhood.

She interacts with a variety of local characters in the village. I liked the way her supportive relationship with a young girl, who also has to deal with a complex, dysfunctional family, brings out the best in Madeleine, reminding her of her own traumas.

Madeleine also has an unusual, unorthodox and secret job with an insurance company. Matters are further complicated by her personal, professional and romantic relationship with her boss’s nephew, Daniel, whom she doesn’t trust, and the reappearance of her former, unscrupulous boyfriend, threatening to wreck her life.

Parallel Lies was a pleasure to read. I enjoyed the way Madelaine’s character gradually unfolded and developed throughout the novel, and there were many twists and turns to keep me interested right to the end.

****

UK Buy Link

US Buy Link

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Happy reading and Happy Christmas!

Have you written a Christmas or Wintry themed novel you’d like me to feature? Drop me a line or let me know in the comments.

#Author Spotlight: Georgia Rose

September 25, 2015LucciaGray 16 Comments

This week’s Author Spotlight features Georgia Rose, author of The Grayson Trilogy.

I met author Georgia Rose in the blogging universe last year when I read A Single Step, Book One of the Grayson Trilogy. I was drawn into this entertaining, contemporary, romantic suspense. It is so well written that you will sail through it smoothly, avidly turning the pages! Tension is gradually built up, as the exciting plot and incipient romance between two complex characters materializes. This well-devised, progressive build up becomes part of the enjoyment.

I went on to read Book Two, Before The Dawn. The suspense elements keep readers gripped to the story, avidly turning page after page as the characters’ motivations and backgrounds are revealed. Nobody is who they seem, even the idyllic location where the story develops, holds surprises. I strongly recommend reading books one and two first.

The final part of The Grayson Trilogy, Thicker Than Water, which has just been released, is a great ending to the series. The Emma Grayson we have grown to love and worry about is an enigma. The reader guesses that right from the beginning. There is more to Emma than would appear, even more than she knows herself. Although Emma is an honest character, I have been wondering if she has been truthful, and this is one of the delight of first person narrators, they are so deliciously unreliable! This means that readers are forced to read between the lines, look for clues, and reinterpret their version of the story. There are many surprises right at the beginning of this novel, which make you wonder which direction the story will be taking, but Georgia Rose manages to build up suspense and twist the plot to unexpected territory. I can say no more without spoiling the reader’s enjoyment.

You will not be disappointed with the ending to this entertaining trilogy, on the contrary, the ending makes having read the series worthwhile. Lucky those of you who have not read it yet! Do so now as autumn is setting in!

I’ve asked Georgia to join me today and tell us more about herself and the Grayson Trilogy.

What would you say to a potential reader to convince him or her to read the Grayson Trilogy?

I would say that I started writing because I wanted to write books that I would like to read and I strongly believe these books appeal to a wide range of tastes. They are mysterious and romantic adventure stories written from the heart and have the ability to provoke an emotional response in the reader. They have also been described as romance that men can read and one of my biggest surprises has been just how many have read them!

Written in the first person my protagonist is Emma Grayson, a strong woman, who has had more than her fair share of tragedy and is looking to start afresh when she takes on a job looking after the horses on the Melton Estate. Though seeking solitude, she instead starts to meet others who work on the estate including the antagonistic Trent, who has his own issues to deal with.

Emma comes to realise that there is more to the estate and the lives of those on it than she originally thought but not until she has had to deal with a threat to her life. There are revelations about Trent’s past in the first book, dangers that threaten all those on the estate in the second and in the final book more intrigue that challenges everything Emma ever thought about herself.

I would end by saying that the first book, A Single Step, is currently on offer for 99p/99c as an ebook so if you fancy dipping your toe in the murky waters of the Grayson Trilogy there couldn’t be a better time.

Where did the idea or inspiration for the Grayson Trilogy come from?

I made the decision in 2012 that I thought I’d try my hand at writing something. I’ve had various ideas over the years but never anything that had both a beginning and an end…or in many cases a middle! But I’d seen a disused cottage on a large estate a few years before when I was waiting in a queue for an event and I started to imagine what it would be like to live there. Before too long I’d built up a whole world around this cottage and then while on holiday began to thread in a few more storylines and by the end of my week on a sun bed I had the whole thing planned out.
All I then had to do was come home and write it!

How do you feel now you’ve published the complete trilogy?

Thrilled and very relieved! It has been non-stop, particularly with the relentless schedule I set myself this summer and I can’t believe it’s finally done. However, for the first time I had a moment to stop and think yesterday and I suddenly realised that I’ve now left these characters and as they’ve occupied many of my thoughts for the last 3 years that feels strange and a little bit sad. I think that might hit me more over the next couple of weeks.

Can you tell us something about your next project?

Well, following on from the last question I was asked this week about doing a spin off from the Grayson Trilogy. As one who has very kindly read all the books Luccia you will know that the estate is still there and is populated with a large cast of characters all of whom have their own story to tell, else why would they be on the estate? I hadn’t thought about this before but there are certainly opportunities there.

However in the meantime I have already got a couple of stories in mind to take on next, one feels like a novella and the other a novel and I don’t think I shall be tackling another trilogy for a while – you know exactly what a challenge that is!!

Firstly though I’m looking forward to doing a huge amount of catching up with everything in my life including reading and reviewing, because I have a backlog of great reads that I’m looking forward to getting to.

****

Thank you so much for being with us today, Georgia, and telling us more about the Grayson Trilogy and your future projects. I personally look forward to reading more about the other characters on the Melton Estate.

You can find Georgia on Twitter:- @GeorgiaRoseBook and Facebook
This is her Amazon Author Page

Links for A SINGLE STEP
Universal link for A Single Step at Amazon:
Smashwords: –
Kobo:–

Links for BEFORE THE DAWN
Universal link for Before the Dawn at Amazon

Links for THICKER THAN WATER
Universal link for Thicker than Water at Amazon

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I’ll be doing Author Spotlights regularly from now on. I’m aiming for once a week. I have quite a few lined up for the following weeks, but if you are an author and you would like to be featured, please let me know. I’m especially keen on featuring debut and independent authors. I enjoy all sorts of novels with engaging characters and compelling plots, especially romance, historical, and suspense.

Letter ‘G’ The April A to Z Blogging Challenge #AtoZChallenge

April 8, 2015April 8, 2015LucciaGray 13 Comments

April Author Spotlight 2015

Letter ‘G’ is for Georgia Rose author of A Single Step

Why do I recommend A Single Step?

A single step is an enjoyable contemporary, romantic suspense novel. The intricate plot is smoothly and gradually woven by the flowing prose, which invites the reader to sail through the twists and turns of the compelling narrative. Many surprises await the reader, because nobody is who they seem, even the idyllic location where most of the story develops is an unexpected enigma. I loved the way the tension is gradually built up, until the incipient romance between two complex characters materializes, and part of the mystery surrounding the characters and location is revealed. The unhurried story of Emma Grayson’s transition from trauma and unhappiness to love and excitement will linger in your mind, but fortunately, book two, Before the Dawn, is even more exciting, and I’m impatiently waiting for book three!

What is A Single Step About, Georgia?

My contemporary novel, A Single Step, is a romantic suspense with Gothic undertones and is the first in The Grayson Trilogy. The blurb reads that Emma Grayson was left devastated when her life was torn apart by tragedy and betrayal. Now someone believes it’s time for her to start again and puts an advert for a job through her door which leads her to the Melton Estate. Despite her desire for a solitary existence she finds herself discovering a life she could never have imagined, challenging her independence, her fears and her resistance to love.

This is a standalone, there’s no abrupt cliff hanger ending but enough unanswered questions that I hope will mean you will choose to read the second book. If you like a developing romance along with underlying suspense and writing that brings scenes, settings and characters to life then this might just be for you.

What are you working on now?

I am currently working on the third in the Trilogy which I think will be called Thicker than Water having published the second part, Before the Dawn, last September. I’ve finished the draft, although there are gaps to be filled and layers to be added and I’m toying with putting a little something extra at the end but that will depend on the views of my beta readers who will get their hands on it in a few weeks, after considerably more work has been done on it.

So this summer will be spent hammering this final part of the trilogy into shape for release later in the year. Then I have a couple of other ideas, one which feels like a novella and another novel. Both are taking shape in my head and adding to the mayhem in there so I’m looking forward to eventually getting to work on them.

What would you like readers to know about you?

I do love my readers, of course, every single one of them but what they should know is that I write my books first and foremost for me. It’s the only way I can do it. I couldn’t be told what type of story I had to come up with next, and I couldn’t write to a formula, at least, not at the moment.

I have to feel the characters you see and I hope this comes out in my writing. I live with them for a while, their lives percolating through my brain. I feel what they’ve been through, their sadness’s and passions until I know how they would react in any given situation and for me that then guides how the story develops.

Having said all that I am feeling the pressure of expectation to produce this time around and I never thought I’d be saying that!

How can we find out more or contact you?

Universal Links to my Author pages:-

Amazon UK

Amazon US

My Website and Blog

Follow me on Twitter: @GeorgiaRoseBook

Georgia Rose on Facebook

The Grayson Trilogy page on Facebook

My Goodreads Author Page

Universal link for A Single Step at Amazon

Smashwords

Kobo

Nook

Please take some time to check out some of the other blogs on the A-Z Challenge. There are plenty of interesting and varied topics.

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

August 27, 2014LucciaGray 6 Comments

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.