Catch-Up Quickies 93 – Bookshine And Readbows

First a quick explanation!

Due to some severe health issues over the last few years, and a lingering chronic condition, my planned review schedule went right out of the window and I have been scrabbling ever since to get it back on track.

In an attempt to try to regain some lost ground, I have been scrunching some of my (overdue) reviews together into one or two posts each week: shorter reviews, but still covering all of the points I intended to.

That’s the plan anyway, so let’s keep the 2025 momentum up with some more indie book love!

Title:  Whiplash, Book 1
Author:  Morgan Quaid
Publisher: Markosia Enterprises Ltd

Blurb:  Are you ready to fight?

Abducted in the dead of night by a mountainous thug and a ginger-haired dwarf, eighteen-year-old Jack Flint is taken to an underground bunker where he and a group of other teens are forced to fight an implacable enemy in a dream world rife with danger.

Whiplash is a fast-paced story set with a rich and intricately detailed fantasy world where nightmarish creatures from the world of dreams threaten the waking world and teens with the ability to lucid dream must fight in a war for humanity’s survival. Above the throng, powerful demigods vie for control while Jack and his companions struggle to find a path out of the madness.

Perfect for fans of The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, Divergent and Ender’s Game.

Review: This definitely has more of a YA feel to it than other fantasy/horror books I have read by the same author.

Main character Jack Flint/Aster finds out he is the ‘Chosen One’ who can influence a war between our reality and the dream world (Capital: Rust City; Ruler: the Red Queen), and jumping straight into his training montage to prepare him for moving between the two realms at will, plus all of the fighting and espionage stuff he needs to know.

I found Jack a bit of a passive main character to follow, as he is frequently dragged around by more competent characters, mostly believes what he is told and seems to join the cause of whoever has his attention most in the moment! He also seems to develop romantic feelings for every female character he comes into contact with – Saffron, Juniper, Shadow – and the most direct action he takes for or against the rebellion is falling into or being knocked into unconsciousness at every opportunity.

In contrast, the worldbuilding behind Rust City and the dream world is absolutely fascinating: mysterious plagues of the mind; shadow beasts; dream soldiers, and of course, the City itself. I’ve read other books by this author set in the same world and am always keen to know more and see more of this terrifying yet compelling parallel world.

Unfortunately, on this occasion I found the plot a little hard to get into due to my disconnect from Jack and his first-person narrative, but I could see slightly younger (and less romantically cynical!) readers being drawn into this fast-paced tale of dream-spying and dream-soldiering, with tyrannical rulers and competing rebellions.

Purchase Link: Whiplash on Amazon

Title:  From Now Until Forever
Author:  Rowan Coleman
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Blurb:  He’s running out of time.

Ben Church has never done anything extraordinary in his life – until now.
Now, he needs to fulfil as many of his dreams as possible while he still can.

Time is all she has.

Vita Ambrose’s life of parties and fabulous clothes looks wildly glamorous but in reality it has no meaning.
She’s seen too much, lived too much and lost too much.

Together, can they make time stand still?

Ben and Vita’s connection is immediate, spontaneous and passionate. But the clock is ticking.
Can they find a way to make their love live forever? Because every moment matters when it might be your last . . .

Review: This is a tragic star-crossed romance between dual main characters, terminally ill Ben and mysteriously long-lived Vita, which encompasses lots of drama and true-love joyfulness, and lots of art/da Vinci appreciation, on the way to the obvious impending heartbreak.

I really enjoyed the art and historical references and the characters do have very sweet chemistry together, but I am not terribly sentimental so am afraid that the heart of this book left me cold – it is very sappy and heart-string-tugging!

Those who love books like John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveller’s Wife or Jojo Moyes’ Me Before You are likely to also love this tale of love found, lost and everlasting.

You will need lots of tissues and possibly a swooning coach nearby. Unless, like me, you are more cold-blooded, in which case you will find this an interesting historical fiction read with a cool sci-fi/fantasy twist and some mildly annoying romance stuff throughout!

Purchase Link: From Now Until Forever on Amazon

Title: Oaken Tongue
Author:  L. Morton
Publisher: Independently published

Blurb:  “Tell me reader, do you still knock of the doors of great oak trees? Have you listened for the secrets in the lull of the ocean and visited the worlds hidden between blades of grass? I know you have.”

Venture to ancient lands where dragons slumber in secret, promises are exchanged between princesses and troll kings, and there are folk more wolf than woman who dwell there.

This short story collection is imbued with the magic of traditional folktales, exploring the joy of returning to nature, and just what can happen if we stray too far from it…

Review: I bought this folklore-rooted horror-fantasy story collection because I loved the author’s literary teas and wanted to support her in this new endeavour. And I’m glad that I did.

The writing style is very poetic, rich in detailed descriptions and rooted in nature in all its dirt-and-bone grittiness. There is a mixture of short stories and poems, based around traditional folk and fairytale scenarios, with many of the pieces written in the first-person perspective.

Each story within is evocative of the woodlands and meadows, streams and shore, soil and bark and salt, sunlight and moonlight, rot and wolves and worms, and blood and bones – every word and idea firmly grounded in nature and in natural mythology.

While slightly overwritten in places, this is a really lovely collection of dark, traditional-style tales that goes well with an earthy mushroom or herbal tea, beside a crackling wood fire, under a hand-knitted blanket, where you can really feel the pull of our history with nature in your bones.

Purchase Link: Oaken Tongue  on Amazon

Title: Unhackable Soul
Author:  Maureen Sharphouse
Publisher: Unhackable Press

Blurb:  Fed up with pain and illness dictating your life?
Choose to rise up.

Living with chronic pain is far from easy. Left unchecked, it erodes your spirit and keeps you living in the dark. It can influence what you believe about yourself and even hack your soul–if you let it.

Author Maureen Sharphouse knows the challenges of living with pain first-hand. She has endured more than three decades of debilitating physical health challenges, including the incurable neurological illness known as “the suicide disease.” Yet, in the midst of her daily pain, she lives with passion, joy, and enthusiasm for life.

In thirty daily missions. Unhackable Soul reveals how you can feel vibrantly alive despite chronic pain. Discover how to

• rise up from a life dictated by pain and illness to one fuelled by enthusiasm and purpose.
• feel alive and experience greater joy, peace, and comfort.
• wake up every day eager to embrace life despite your challenges.

Live well. Reignite your light. It’s time to become Unhackable.

Review: It has taken me a while to read and review this non-fiction book, as I took it slowly to really absorb and integrate the messages and actions into my daily life.

In this volume, Maureen Sharphouse explores how she, and we, can live well with chronic illness and chronic pain instead of merely surviving living with it. The author’s condition is different from my own, but produces very similar restrictions to a previously ‘normal’ life and similar levels of pain and fatigue, leading to almost identical levels of frustration and helpless hopelessness. The difference is that Maureen Sharphouse had a moment of epiphany and realised that her life could continue to stretch out in front of her as a path of suffering, or she could choose to live in each moment instead, as best and full a life as possible.

The tone throughout is kind and empathetic, sympathetic to the suffering of her readers, but also firmly joyful and positive. Each chapter is bracketed with quotes and ends with both a useful summary of what was said and a ‘Rise’ exercise – one for each of the 30 days the book spans.

Having dutifully followed nearly all of the Rise activities (I don’t share the author’s Christian religious/spiritual beliefs and so read those chapters with interest but bypassed those activities or adapted them to my own belief system) and I noticed immediate improvements – not in my health, or my pain levels, or my energy levels, but in my mood, attitude, positivity and hope levels.

This book reminded me that pain and fatigue doesn’t have to rule my life. It can change my body but it cannot ‘hack’ my soul, my mind, my sense of self. This is such a valuable resource for those struggling with despair at their chronic condition/s and looking for some light in that darkness, and I will be recommending Unhackable Soul to all of my spoonie friends in the hope of spreading that light to as many as possible who need it.

Purchase Link: Unhackable Soul on Amazon

Title: A Missing Signature
Author:  Virginia King
Publisher: Celestial Hedgehog

Blurb: A friend with secrets.

A dangerous painting.

A tangle of clues that don’t add up.

When mystery author Tiggy Jones leaves a London auction house, she glimpses a woman who looks a lot like her missing friend, Nessa.

The chance encounter spirals into a complex and deadly mystery that won’t let Tiggy go: coded messages, strange disguises and an old French portrait that she fears is a fake.

Will the unscrupulous art dealer really stop at nothing to get his hands on it?

And why won’t Nessa tell Tiggy the truth about what’s going on?

As the mystery deepens, and a second person is found dead, Tiggy realises that her amateur sleuthing is not safe.

For others.

And for herself.

A Missing Signature is Book 2 in the addictive Tiggy Jones Mystery Series.It will keep you guessing until the final twist.

Review: This is the second book in the Tiggy Jones series of British mysteries and each book stands alone really well. I would still read them all in series order anyway, but that’s my fear of missing out that kicks in when it comes to books/authors that I enjoy!

In this story, we follow Tiggy as she investigates a mystery that was teased at the end of book 1: why has her best friend back home suddenly stopped answering her texts? And that one simple question plunges the reader straight into an adventurous investigation packed with art history and assault, mudlarking and murder, theft, fraud, and lies upon lies upon many more lies!

But can Tiggy – along with her Polka-Dot Pooch and trusty Devonian ‘andsomes – SPOT the untruths and solve the mysteries as they twist all around her?

Clever, meticulously plotted and bursting with intrigue, great characters and a lovely taste of local flavour, this series is a real treat for any British mystery fans and will definitely keep you guessing… and reading!

Purchase Link: A Missing Signature on Amazon

My usual mixture of genres and styles in this selection – I do love a varied reading diet!

I hope you spot something you like the look of among them and maybe even find a brand new author to follow and enjoy.

Happy reading and keep shining! 🙂