The Prince and The Pea - A Gently Humorous Fairy Tale Retelling by @DeniseDeegan #Review

TITLE - The Prince and The Pea

AUTHOR - Denise Deegan

PUBLICATION DATE - 10th October 2017

GENRE - Fantasy

PAGES - 26 - Quick Read

SYNOPSIS - As heir to the throne, Prince Richard is expected to marry well, and his parents are adamant that only the finest princess will do. But is royal blood really more important than the spark of true love?

His father, the king, has devised his own test of true royalty, inviting the haughtiest heiress for miles around to spend a night at the castle, balanced atop a pile of mattresses concealing a single pea. But even though she passes the test, she is too outraged by sleep deprivation to stay beyond breakfast. Meanwhile Richard can’t stop thinking about Rosie O’Toole, the charming chambermaid who has taught him how to lay a fire and find true meaning in his life…

When Rosie is unfairly dismissed and disappears without a trace, Richard is determined to find her. He must bring her back to the castle and reinstate her at once. But as he grows more desperate, Richard realises that he is no longer searching for a chambermaid, but for his one true love.

MY REVIEW 

This is a quick read and as such my review will be short for fear of giving anything away. 

I vaguely remember reading a book of the Princess and The Pea by Hans Christian Anderson so wasn't sure what to expect from this short book. I enjoyed it as it was written with humour and warmth. It is a similar tale in a way to the book by Anderson, but with a twist and more humour. For a short book it is very descriptive and full of content. 

A nice little read for all ages. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Denise Deegan lives in Dublin with her family where she regularly dreams of sunshine, a life without cooking and her novels being made into movies.

Denise has been a nurse, a china restorer, a pharmaceutical sales rep, a public relations

officer, an entrepreneur and a college lecturer. Her most difficult job was being a checkout girl, although ultimately this experience did inspire a short story…

Denise writes for both adults and teenagers. Her novels have been published by Penguin, Random House, Hachette and Lake Union Publishing. Writing under the pen name Aimee Alexander, Denise’s contemporary family dramas have become international best-sellers on Kindle.

Denise’s most recent novel, Through the Barricades, won the SCBWI Spark Award 2016.

Her writing for Young Adults includes the much-loved contemporary trilogy, The Butterfly Novels: And By The Way, And For Your Information and And Actually.

Denise writes women’s fiction as Aimee Alexander including Pause to Rewind, The Accidental Life of Greg Millar and All We Have Lost.

Contact the author - Facebook Twitter Website

Also check out her Butterfly Series

BOOK REVIEW - Murder Ring by Leigh Russell - Crime Thriller

TITLE - Murder Ring

AUTHOR - Leigh Russell

GENRE - Crime/Mystery

FORMATS - Kindle Version - Click here
                      Pre-Order Paperback version - Click here

SYNOPSIS

The dead body of unassuming David Lester, returning home after a night out, is discovered in a dark side-street and DI Geraldine Steel is plunged into another murder investigation. The clues mount up along with the suspects, but with the death of another man in explicable circumstances, the case becomes increasingly complex. As Geraldine investigates the seemingly unrelated crimes, she makes a shocking discovery about her birth Mother. 

MY REVIEW

Well once again, Leigh Russell did not disappoint.  I have been a fan of her books ever since she released Cut Short. There is nothing like a good police procedural, and this book was just that. 

The story starts with David Lester, on his way home after a works night out. He is murdered and left in a side street near to the pub. DI Geraldine Steel heads up the case as usual and sets about trying to piece together what happened. Just when she thinks she has her suspect, another murder takes place. 

I like how the book shows the developing relationships between the staff at the station, after they suffered a recent loss of one of their own. Although this is a continuing series with Geraldine Steel as the main character, you will be fine reading this book as a standalone. I do recommend though that you try all her other books too, and read them in order if you can. 

There were so many suspects in the book that it kept you changing your mind on who actually committed the crimes. Was there one killer or two. Who knows? You only actually find out within the last 10 pages which is what I like about a book. I don't like discovering who it was early on. 

The other thing I love about Leigh Russell's books are the short chapters in each book. To me, and each reader is different, I love them because I can follow each character easier, without reading long laborious chapters, and then forgetting who the character is and where they fit in, when you finally meet them five chapters later. 

Her research into the police procedures has obviously been done well, and I am always very critical in this area. 

Again, a great story, and well worth a read. Leigh Russell has now become one of my favourite authors in Police Procedurals. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hailed as 'a brilliant talent' by Jeffery Deaver and 'a deeply human voice' by Peter James, Leigh Russell writes the internationally bestselling Geraldine Steel series of psychological crime thrillers.

As well as receiving rave reviews on numerous renowned sites like Crime Time, Crimesquad and Eurocrime, her books have attracted glowing reviews in journals as diverse as The Times, The New York Journal of Books and Star Magazine, to name just a few. 

CUT SHORT was shortlisted for a CWA Dagger Award for Best First Crime Novel. The series reached Number 1 on kindle for female sleuths, Top 50 Bestsellers List on kindle, Top 50 Bestsellers Chart for WH Smith's Travel, Top Reads list on Eurocrime, Best Fiction Books of 2012 Chart in the Miami Examiner, and Best Crime Fiction Books in a poll on Crime Time. Geraldine Steel is a Great Crime Sleuth on Lovereading.

As well as continuing the bestselling Geraldine Steel series, Leigh has written a spin off series featuring Geraldine's popular colleague Ian Peterson. The first of these was published in 2013.

Catch up with Leigh on her Website; Geraldine Steel Facebook Page; YouTube page