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Wish You Weren't Here by Portia Macintosh #Review

  I am delighted to feature a laugh outloud romcom by Portia Macintosh . Wish You Weren't Here was published on January 8th by Boldwood Books .   Don’t get mad, get Ethan! Lana has had enough. Her ‘perfect’ sister is getting married. In Australia. On Lana’s 30th birthday and no one seems to have noticed. To make matters worse, she’s been given a list of rules she must follow so she doesn’t upstage the bride. Well, rules are meant to be bent right? She’s found a killer dress, now she just needs the most inappropriate wedding date she can find. But where to start? All her attempts at online dating are simply disasters, and not in the right way! Too boring/married/easily intimidated! But then her drop dead gorgeous ex Ethan suddenly reappears in her life. With the power to make her dizzy with excitement she reminds herself why they broke up. Together they literally attracted chaos until their relationship imploded. They couldn’t make it work. But could Lana make this work ...
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The Man Who Died by Antti Tuomainen translated by David Hackston **Blog Tour Review **

I am so pleased to be the latest stop, along with Crime by the Book , on the Orenda blog tour for The Man Who Died. I loved The Mine and couldn't wait to read more by Finnish writer, Antti Tuomainen. The Man Who Died is a thriller edged with black humour.

 A successful entrepreneur in the mushroom industry, Jaakko Kaunismaa is a man in his prime. At just 37 years of age, he is shocked when his doctor tells him that he’s dying. What is more, the cause is discovered to be prolonged exposure to toxins; in other words, someone has slowly but surely been poisoning him. Determined to find out who wants him dead, Jaakko embarks on a suspenseful rollercoaster journey full of unusual characters, bizarre situations and unexpected twists.
My Thoughts
 
What a clever book this is!  The beginning of the book could be used as a teaching aid in how to open a crime book. It is shocking, cuts through to the core of the main character and sets off the reason for the book beautifully- to find out who has poisoned Jaakko. I loved it. Antti Tuomainen manages to keep the tension going throughout yet weaves in black humour and over the top characters. In the very worse of predicaments, Jaakko can look wryly at his situation and without pomposity, think about what is really important in life. 

    Love and betrayal are important themes running through the story. Some of the scenes are visually strong and stay in your mind after the story has finished, I am not surprised to read that all of his books have been optioned for TV or Film. This is a book which has it all- joy and sadness, loyalty and betrayal, wit and slapstick, life and death - just like life itself.
 
In short: superb, superb, superb. 
   
About the Author
 
 
 Finnish Antti Tuomainen (b. 1971) was an award-winning copywriter when he made his literary debut in 2007 as a suspense author. The critically acclaimed My Brother’s Keeper was published two years later. In 2011 Tuomainen’s third novel, The Healer, was awarded the Clue Award for ‘Best Finnish Crime Novel of 2011’ and was shortlisted for the Glass Key Award. The Finnish press labelled The Healer – the story of a writer desperately searching his missing wife in a post-apocalyptic Helsinki – ‘unputdownable’. Two years later in 2013 they crowned Tuomainen ‘The King of Helsinki Noir’ when Dark as My Heart was published. The Mine, published in 2016, was an international bestseller. All of his books have been optioned for TV/film. With his piercing and evocative style, Tuomainen is one of the first to challenge the Scandinavian crime genre formula, and The Man Who Died sees him at his literary best.
 
 
Thanks to Karen Sullivan and Anne Cater of Orenda Books for a copy of the book and a place on the Blog Tour. 
 
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