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The Miller's Bride by Liz Harris #Review #TheHouseOfMcleodBook1

  Welcome to Liz Harris and her new Victorian historical novel, The Miller's Bride . This new series, The House of McLeod , was published by Boldwood Books on May 27th. When independence comes at a price... Scotland, 1885 Gracie McLeod’s life changes overnight when her father sells the family grocer’s shop and moves the family from their Highland village to a distant fishing town. But Gracie refuses to follow. Desperate to maintain her independence, she reluctantly agrees to an arranged marriage to Angus MacKenzie – a stranger who makes it clear he doesn’t want her, and who is in love with another woman. When Gracie arrives at the mill she now must call home, she finds herself entangled in a web of deceit and ambition. Unknown to her, Angus’s cousin is plotting to take over the mill and destroy her marriage from within, and he’s enlisted Angus’s former lover to help him. As secrets and sabotage threaten to ruin everything Gracie has tried to build, she must decide whet...

Jihadi: A Love Story by Yusuf Toropov

 Jihadi: A Love Story is a psychological thriller which I found to be an extremely challenging read. I was reading it at the time that the atrocities in Brussels were occurring and I found it difficult to engage with the subject matter. It is a complicated plot line which cannot easily be skimmed over. It makes the reader evaluate the truth and there are many twists and turns as the story develops.

    It begins in a secret terrorist prison cell where a former intelligence agent is being held and has written his memoir. This memoir is being assessed by a psychologist who annotates the text from her own perspective. The trouble is, it is very difficult to know who is to be trusted. You can't make assumptions about any part of it. Extremists are on both sides. 

    Told through the lives of a range of characters, the story poses questions as to the nature of terrorism, religious fervour, leadership and fanaticism. Moving backwards and forwards in time, different stories are woven together. On  Safen Maken Findley's blog, the author, Yusuf Toropov has posted a guest post on the writing of Jihadi. You can read it here.

 Thanks to Orenda Books for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.





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