BOOK TOUR; Power Struggle ( Detective Madison Knight Series #8) - Carolyn Arnold

Synopsis:

One hit man who’s back for revenge.
One detective who’s not going down without a fight.

It’s been ten months since Detective Madison Knight almost died at the hands of Russian Mafia hit man Constantine Romanov. She hasn’t seen hide nor hair of him since he escaped police custody and fled to Russia soon after his arrest, except now her latest murder investigation gives her reason to believe he’s back in town. Seeing as the victim is the man who killed her grandfather, her perspective may be a little skewed, but with the MO smacking of Constantine and the victim’s connections to the mob, she finds it hard to be objective. Still, she’s doing her best to consider all the evidence.

When she receives a threatening letter from Constantine, however, her suspicions are confirmed. And he’s made it abundantly clear that not only does he plan to finish what he started but he has her family and loved ones in the crosshairs, too. Madison vows to do whatever it takes to save them, but as the hours race by, the body count rises. And the stakes only get higher when Madison’s sister, Chelsea, goes missing.

Now, Madison’s only play is to take Chelsea’s disappearance for what it really means: Constantine is calling Madison out for one final showdown. And they won’t both survive…

Review:

10 months previous to where this story begins, Madison Knight was almost killed by a Russian mob hit man by the name of Constantine Romanov and she is just about managing to pull herself back together. With the help of her therapist and the love from her boyfriend she is managing to get better. But suddenly Romanov is back and he wants to finish what he started. 

He announces his arrival to Madison via a letter, in which he threatens to kill her family and all those that she loves. The whole police department and Madison are out looking for him but when Madison's sister, Chelsea goes missing Knight knows that the end is coming.

Having not read this series before now, as it makes a great stand alone I can only assume that this instalment is a brilliant addition to the series. The characters are well defined and I just wished I had read the other books in the series to watch the characters grow and more particularly see Madison tested in her personal and work life. I feel as though if I had read more than one of these books that I would have formed a stronger bond with the characters although this time I felt I had a strong bond with Madison anyway

Although I read this book as a stand alone, and it worked really well, I would recommend starting at the beginning so those things that make a good series aren't missed. 

It's hard not to love a book with a cold hearted villain so with that point alone the book is a high recommendation from me but it's exciting and put me on edge ever so slightly, bodies fall and there's just a great book to be read right there and I can't give it any less than a 5/5. One day maybe I'll go back and read this series from the start. Only having read one book from Carolyn in the past, from her Brandon Fisher FBI series, it's easy to see that Carolyn has a way with words and creates such wonderful and enjoyable books.  Any of Carolyn' work is an easy recommendation to anyone wanting to dip their toes into reading crime or to anyone who already loves reading crime novels and wants to add another book or indeed another 3 series of them to their book shelves. 

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng - Blog Tour Review

Synopsis:

In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned -- from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.

Enter Mia Warren -- an enigmatic artist and single mother -- who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.

When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town--and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia's past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs.

Review:

Little Fires Everywhere absorbed me by the very first page, I had very little to no idea what I was really going in to when I opened this book and that added to my excitement of actually reading it. LFE begins with a fire destroying the Richardson house, and from there the action takes us back to the day that Mia and Pearl arrived in Shaker Heights which really pulled me in and held me down.

Set in the suburb of Shaker Heights, where everything is carefully planned and controlled by it's many rules that the residents must stick to. Your house depending on its type can only be painted a certain colour, your rubbish cant be collected from the front of your house and grass must be cut promptly just to name a few of the restrictive rules. Its clear to see from the to see that any person to move into Shaker Heights who doesn't always fully conform or never does, the effects they would have would cause great damage.

Mrs. Richardson lives by the rules which having been raised by them is no surprise, and she has raised her four children (Lexie, Trip, Moody and Izzy) to abide by them as well. She rents a little apartment in the suburb to Mia Warren and her daughter Pearl who are in comparison, less fortunate. Mia is a free spirited artist who lives her life to the fullest. These women have one thing in common and only this thing and that is that they love their children immensely and accept each other's as their own. These mothers relationships with each other and their family and everyone in the town is threatened when a custody battle ensues between a friend of the Richardsons, Mrs. and Mr. McCullough, who are in the middle of adopting a Chinese American baby and a friend of Mia's, Bebe, who is the birth mother. The battle wrecks havoc on the town and causes incredible strife between the families involved.

As the youngest child of my family this book gives me such an insight and with remain with me for a long time, it has an effect I cant quite explain but it has helped me see things in an ever so differently light which was no surprise but at the same time it was just as much of a surprise.

Little Fires everywhere brought laughter and plenty of tears. It is just that kind of read. I can't recommend this book enough, it's captivating, compelling and full of heart. Celeste Ng's has a wonderful ability to intertwine characters and storylines in a way that is both brilliant and beautiful. I loved every second of this book and cant recommend it to anyone enough, its a definite 5/5 from me and I hope anyone, mother or child would pick up this book and dive into the deep behind the bonds of parent and child.

Thanks to Grace Vincent for allowing me onto this book tour. For this day the following blogs are also taking part.