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Hopeful Hearts at the Wartime Hotel by Maisie Thomas #Review #PublicationDay

  I am delighted feature another in the WW2 saga by Maisie Thomas. Hopeful Hearts at the Wartime Hotel  is published today by Boldwood Books .  Manchester, 1942. When Kitty Dunbar was forced to confront her husband’s debts and close the family hotel, she transformed Dunbar’s into a storage business for bombed-out families. But with her daughter to support, and relishing her new independence, Kitty is keen to come up with more ways to use the once prestigious hotel. Sharing her home are former chambermaid Lily , and kind-hearted welfare worker Beatrice , both haunted by past loss. Together, the three women create a new kind of family in the heart of the Manchester Blitz: one built on respect and resilience. When Kitty suggests hosting wedding receptions in the old dining room, her friends are happy and willing to lend a hand – and help to serve ‘Dunbar’s Wartime Wedding Punch’! But when Lily meets a handsome doctor, and Beatrice comes face to face with an old ...

The Evidence Against You by Gillian McAllister #Review

Today we are looking at Gillian McAllister's latest thriller, The Evidence Against you. Full of suspense with a dense plot, it is certainly a page-turner.

 
Can you trust your father, when they say he killed your mother? 

17 years after being convicted of murder, Izzy's father is finally released from prison. 

She wants nothing to do with him - but he claims to be innocent. 

She's always believed he killed her mother, but now doubts are creeping in. 

Because if he's telling the truth, then someone else has been lying all this time . . 

My Thoughts

 This is such an enjoyable read. It captures your imagination from the start and keeps you guessing right up to the final page. The plotting is superb and there are some intriguing characters with some great traits. None more so than the central character of Izzy who has never come to terms with the loss of her mother and in effect, her father. Unable to face up to events, she has purposefully chosen not to address what actually happened to her mother and has compartmentalised her life. It is fascinating how having created a stable life for herself, she jeopardises it as she is eventually compelled to try to unravel the past.

    Told through Izzy's eyes but interspersed with her father's first person memories, the plot is well structured. Set on the Isle of Wight, the island setting emphasises how Izzy has stayed , confined, unable to move on. There is a claustrophobic feel to life there with everyone knowing about the murder and you always feel that there are people within the community who are hiding the truth. Although there is a mystery to be unravelled, this is also about family relationships and how events can alter a character and affect their life forever.

In short: Suspense and surprises in spades.
 
About the Author

 Gillian McAllister has been writing for as long as she can remember. She graduated with an English degree and lives in Birmingham where she now works as a lawyer. Her debut novel Everything But The Truth was a Sunday Times top ten bestseller. You can find her on Twitter @GillianMAuthor.

Book link: Amazon UK

Thanks to Olivia Thomas at Penguin Random House and Gillian McAllister for a copy of the book and a place on the Tour.

Follow the rest of the Tour! 
 
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