Blog Tour: Finding Arthur Whittle

Hi all! We're taking part in the blog tour for Finding Arthur Whittle today. Follow the jump for an extract and all the details of this exciting read!

The Inheritance by Gemma Denham

A dream home. A fresh start. A nightmare waiting inside?

Kate and Patrick are struggling through life. After living on one wage since the birth of their son, Riley, Patrick is suddenly unemployed.

Bouncing from one bad interview to the next, the family are offered a lifeline when Kate receives a phone call. She has inherited a house on the northeast coast from her late aunt.

A beautiful Victorian townhouse. A new beginning.

Excited for the change, the family move hundreds of miles from their Beaconsfield home to the northeast coast. The house needs a lot of work, but that doesn't deter Kate. She is determined to make it work for them.

But from the first night, Kate notices something isn't right. Things are moved or go missing. Objects vanish... then reappear. At first Kate tells herself it's stress. The disarray of the move. Her young son.

Until night falls and she hears footsteps upstairs.

Terrified, Kate becomes convinced there is someone in the house. Upon searching, the house is empty. All the doors and windows are secure.

Night after night Kate hears these noises...and then she starts to receive messages.

Is someone really in the house, could it be haunted, or is she losing her sanity?

Being Aro ed by Madeline Dyer and Rosiee Thor

These twelve stories showcase aromantic people breaking generational curses, finding acceptance, and protecting the vulnerable while highlighting the infinite ways people find connection and love without romance.

A high school matchmaker learns a lesson about love. A rebellious spaceship pilot defies his culture’s compulsory coupling. A boy magically transforms banned romance novels into living dragons. A teen immune to romance, and the zombie virus, fights to survive the apocalypse. Being Aro is full of stories throughout real and imagined worlds that cross genres and disrupt the status quo.

Blog Tour: The Redwood Bargain by Markelle Grabo

To free her cousin from an indentured contract, Katrien agrees to fulfill their lord’s bargain with the fabled “Redwood Man.” Three maids before her have posed as his stepdaughter, Lady Zaviera, and met this lord of the forest as promised. But Katrien means to be the first to fool him—and live.

Impersonating a Lady is no easy feat, especially one as beautiful and aloof as Zaviera. With six weeks before she’s sent off, Katrien is put through endless lessons, even as The Redwood Man’s suffocating vines overtake the manor and threaten its staff.

Zaviera takes a special interest in her training, and their shared interests grow into shared affections. But The Redwood Man awaits his prize. Caught between duty and desire, her future and her past, Katrien must navigate a tricky bargain—or risk failing those she holds dearest.

Blog tour: Girls of Dark Divine by E. V. Woods

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In the legendary ballet theatre of New Kora, the girls on stage enchant the audience each night with their grace and divine beauty. Before Emberlyn became the show's star, it was her dream to become one of the ballerinas… until she learned the price of their living nightmare.

A curse has bound the girls to the show's mastermind, Malcolm, so they must obey his every command. They are controlled by the magic’s invisible strings that has the power to wield their limbs like marionette dolls. Only the commands don’t stop when the curtain comes down, and the girls live a life of fear from Malcolm’s wickedness and the twisted truth that each dancer is destined to turn to dust when the curse finally consumes her.

When the troupe is invited to perform in the glitzy city of Parlizia, Emberlyn knows this could be her best chance to save them all. She meets an elusive boy made of shadows with a magical connection to the girls. Together, they work to unravel the haunting truth about their creation and fight for their survival. But the cost of freedom might be too high, and as she dances closer to the edge of darkness she realizes she might break the curse… or break her own heart forever.

Blog tour: One Big Happy Family by Sam Vickery

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✦ BLURB ✦

Watching my beautiful rosy-cheeked baby Ava play in the sand, I can’t believe how much joy she’s brought me. I look at the gentle waves of the ocean sparkling in the sun. But when I turn back, Ava is gone…

Everyone rushes to the beach to help search for Ava, but there’s no trace of her anywhere nearby. My ex-husband Jimmy is just as terrified as I am. But I get an odd feeling from his new girlfriend, Leah. As she cradles my other two children, she doesn’t seem as panicked as Jimmy and me. How can she be so calm?

Then they show me footage of Ava on a bus, held tightly by an elderly woman who looks just like Leah’s mother. Leah couldn’t have anything to do with Ava’s disappearance, could she?

I’ve seen the way Leah clings tightly to Jimmy, how she has moulded herself into the perfect housewife, never letting him lift a finger and cooking my children’s favourite meals every day.

Then the police officer in charge fixes me with a cold stare as he asks me why I wasn’t paying attention to my daughter. Suggesting it’s my fault she’s gone… That my older two would be safer in Leah’s care.

Should I share my suspicions? What if the police are looking in the wrong place? Time is running out to find Ava, and I’ll do whatever it takes to get her back, but are my accusations about to tear my whole family apart?

Blog tour: The Notorious Virtues by Alwyn Hamilton

At sixteen, Honora Nora Holtzfall is the daughter of the most powerful heiress in all of Walstad. Her family controls all the money--and all the magic--in the entire country. But despite being the center of attention, Nora has always felt like an outsider. When her mother is found dead in an alley, the family throne and fortune are suddenly up for grabs, and Nora will be pitted against her cousins in the Veritaz, the ultimate magical competition for power that determines the one family heir.

But there's a surprise contestant this time: Lotte, the illegitimate daughter of Nora's aunt. When Lotte's absent mother retrieves her from the rural convent she'd abandoned her to, Lotte goes from being an orphan to surrounded by family. Unfortunately, most of them want her dead.

And soon, Nora discovers that her mother's death wasn't random--it was murder. And the only person she can trust to uncover the truth of what happened is a rakish young reporter who despises everything Nora and her family stand for.

With everyone against her, Lotte's last hope is hunting for the identity of her father. But the dangerous competition--and her feelings for Theo, one of the Holtzfalls' sworn protectors--turns her world upside down.

Incredible tests, impossible choices and deadly odds await both girls. But there can only be one winner.

Buddy the Knight and the Queen of Sorrow by Peter David

Buddy is no ordinary teddy bear.

He’s a Knight, crafted by The Nameless Wizard himself, and sworn to protect his Person, 10-year old Mieya, from all the Things-That-Go-Bump-In-The-Night.

When Mieya is cursed into a magical sleep, it’s up to Buddy and his friends Esteban the Bard, Sasha the Warrior-Princess, and Copper the Butterfly to journey across The Realm-Under-The-Bed and find the one responsible.

But this is no ordinary Quest. The Realm is a dangerous place, filled with jungles, deserts, lightning storms, and Monsters. But worst of all is The Queen of Sorrow who waits for them in her dark castle in the crags. To break her curse, Buddy will need more than his skill with a blade, Esteban’s witty songs, or Sasha’s ferocious might.

He’ll need Heart.

Blog tour: Same Page by Elly Swartz

Bess Stein is more than ready to be 6th grade class president. She’s got tons of ideas—including a book vending machine—and her new friend June is beside her as vice-president. Together, they’re unstoppable.

But when the books the girls want included in the vending machine come under fire, Bess is stunned. How can one person believe they have the right to decide what other people can read? It turns out that June’s mom is leading the fight, and now everything’s a mess.

Bess misses June—but she wants to make sure kids who might like these books get the chance to read them, even if it means she and June can’t be friends. With such different opinions, will they ever be on the same page?

Blog Tour: Five Reasons to read The Last Bookstore on Earth by Lily Braun-Arnold

The world is about to end. Again.

It’s been a year since a devastating storm ripped Liz’s world apart. Haunted by the memories of those she couldn’t save, Liz holes up in the only place she felt safe before her world fell away: the bookstore where she used to work. Now she spends her days trading books for supplies and collecting stories from the remaining survivors who pass by.

Until she learns that another earth-shattering Storm is coming . . . and everything changes.

Enter Maeve, a spiky out-of-towner who breaks into the bookstore looking for shelter one night. When Maeve’s secrets and Liz’s inner demons come back to haunt them both, they find themselves fighting for their lives and asking themselves one big question.

As the end of the world approaches, is there time for one final love story?

Blog Tour: The Fortress by T A Styles

We are the fortress, and the fortress is us.

Sim was a teacher in his old life. Now he's the savior of orphans.

He isn't their father. God knows he has already failed in that role. But he is their guide. And the kids? They are his penance. His redemption.

For three years Sim has prepared his orphans for the hard realities of life after the plague that wiped out most of the global population. Theirs is a life without laws or creature comforts. He has trained them to forage and grow their own food, to be vigilant, and to protect themselves and each other by any means necessary. In building a fortress of brick and mortar, they've become a fortress of flesh and blood.

These allegiances and ideals are put to the test when a man named Zagan, who believes himself to be on a mission for the devil to bring about the destruction of civilization's remains, gathers hundreds of marauders and confronts Sim and his orphans in a merciless siege.

Will the fortress hold... Or will it collapse under the pressure of evil?

Blog Tour: The Bitter End by Alexa Donne

When a winter storm traps eight teens in a remote ski cabin, they find themselves stranded with a killer—who may be one of their own. From the acclaimed author of The Ivies and Pretty Dead Queens comes a YA thriller that will make your blood run cold.

The trip of a lifetime might be the death of them all.

The students of LA’s elite Warner Prep can’t wait for their Senior Excursion—five days of Instagrammable adventure in one of the world’s most exclusive locations. This is not your average field trip.

Which is why eight students can’t believe their bad luck when they end up on a digital detox in an isolated Colorado ski chalet. Their epic trip is panning out to be an epic bore . . . until their classmates start dropping in a series of disturbing deaths. The message is clear: this trip is no accident.

And when a blizzard strikes, secrets are revealed, betrayals are exposed, and survival is at stake in a race to the bitter end.

Songlight by Moira Buffini

Elsa is used to hiding the most important parts of herself—her feelings for Rye, her distaste for a world ruled by men, and, most crucially, her gift of songlight. She buries that secret deep inside. In Brightland, those with songlight are called Unhumans and are abhorred. Rye is the only other person Elsa has known with songlight, and their shared bond has brought them together.

Elsa’s world begins to fall apart one desperate, heart-wrenching day and she doesn’t know where to turn until a girl appears before her. But the girl isn’t really there—her songlight has been drawn to Elsa’s frantic grief.

Elsa lives in a remote seaside village; Nightingale, her new friend, lives in a city hundreds of miles away with her father, a government official responsible for rooting out Unhumans. The two never expected to connect via songlight. But when they do, and when they realize the extent of their power, they’ll be thrust in the middle of a war that threatens their very existence.

Blog tour: Zombie Apocalypse Running Club by Carrie Mac

When twins Eira and Soren escape from their survivalist home into a world overcome by zombies, there's only one way to stay alive - run!

Eira and Soren are queer twins living with their survivalist parents when a plague starts spreading that turns people into zombie-like monsters. They disagree with their parents about a lot, but they can't deny that their way of life keeps them safe while much of the world perishes--for now. 

When it becomes clear that their safety won't last, the twins decide to strike out on their own.They don't get far before encountering the one remaining person in the closest town - the librarian, Racer, a gold medal-winning Special Olympics champion. Racer is appalled at the twins’ slow speed and tells them that their survivalist skills aren't worth anything if they can't outrun the monsters. He sets them on a training regimen that comes in handy when they embark on the bigger journey ahead of them.

On their trek they find friends, enemies, and even love. But with zombies on their heels at every turn, will they ever be able to slow down?

Content warning; ableism, bullying, blood

Blog Tour: Anticipation by Neil Taylor

You are being played.

Your every move is being watched by businesses hoping to manipulate your behaviour. Every picture, every post, every like, every follow, every purchase, every search.

When 17-year-old Riya Sudame inherits her father’s secret AI algorithm, she and a handful of carefully selected Keyholders hold the power to predict people’s future using their online data. But with great power comes great responsibility, and they must safeguard it from falling into the wrong hands.

Enter Jim Booker, a powerful social media tycoon, who will stop at nothing to steal the technology for himself. Soon Riya faces a critical choice. Fighting ruthless tech giants seems like an impossible task—wouldn’t it be easier to relinquish her father’s creation in exchange for a normal teenage life?

But if she does, she will have to live with the knowledge that she is the reason that, like everyone, you are being played.

Blog tour: Near Misses and Cowboy Kisses by Katrina Emmel

A swoon-worthy YA rivals-to-lovers romance between a Nebraskan cowboy and California girl, thrust together on the Oregon Trail.Anything’s possible under a prairie sky...Riley Thomas is feeling stuck—she’s moved from California to Nebraska, she’s on a weeklong Oregon Trail family bonding excursion, and her luggage is lost. There’s no one her age on the trip except a tall, dark and irksome cowboy who wrongly assumes she has zero ability to handle the great outdoors. She can’t wait for this misery to end—even though going“home” isn’t even possible anymore.

Lone wolf Colton Walker loves the simpler life of the plains and his family’s tourism business that helps protect them. He’s a stand-up guy—not a love ‘em and leave ‘em type like his rival, Jake. And he knows better than to take his chances with a prairie princess like Riley.

But Riley’s got more sense than Colton thinks–and he’s not nearly as inflexible as he seems.And under a wide prairie sky of puffy clouds and bright stars, everything comes into focus–including a cowboy’s heart.

Katrina Emmel’s Near Misses and Cowboy Kisses will take you on a sweeping journey across the American prairie . . . once you love a boy in a Stetson, you’ll never be the same.

Welcome to Dorley Hall by Alyson Greaves

Mark Vogel is like the older brother Stefan Riley never had, until one day he disappears, and Stefan has to adapt to life without him. But, one year later, when he runs into a girl who looks near-identical to Mark, Stefan becomes obsessed. He discovers that other boys have disappeared, too, dozens over the years, most of them students of the Royal College of Saint Almsworth, many of them troubled or unruly before their disappearance.

What is happening to these boys? Who are the handful of women on campus who bear a striking resemblance to some of those who went missing? And what is the connection to the mysterious Dorley Hall?

Stefan works hard to get into the Royal College for one reason and one reason only: to find out exactly what happened to the women who live at Dorley Hall, and to get it to happen to him, too.

A closeted trans girl attempts to infiltrate a secret underground forced feminisation programme.

Content note: this story engages with some reasonably dark topics, including but not limited to torture, manipulation, dysphoria, nonconsensual surgery, and kidnapping. While it isn't intended to be a dark or dystopian story, the perspective characters are carrying a lot of baggage, and the exploration of the premise might be triggering for trans readers.

Blog Tour: The Only Way Out is Death by Varun Gwalani

Twelve powerful people are kidnapped and imprisoned in an empty hotel.

Each one of them has three choices:

Live out the rest of their days peacefully in the hotel,

Die by suicide so the rest of their companions can go free,

Or murder one of their companions so they alone can go free.

The Only Way Out is Death follows the story of these twelve people from the perspective of a young lawyer, Kiriaki, told as the events unfold. She has to forge messy alliances, navigate complex relationships and feuds, and, above all, try to stay alive. Meanwhile, the mastermind of this death game is lurking just out of view, watching them closely, making sure they are primed for murder.

Will Kiriaki find the mastermind before it's too late for her?

Will she outmaneouvre the cutthroats before they cut her throat?

There are twelve selfish lives in the hotel.

Will it end in twelve selfish deaths?

Blog tour: Who Watches This Place by Amy Clarkin

‘Would you kill someone to survive?’ he asked.

‘It’s not survival when you’re already dead,’ she replied.

Paranormal Surveyance Ireland – PSI – are on the hunt for ghosts. When The Merrion Hub, a fancy new start-up, is gripped by strange and disturbing happenings, the owners ask Archer and his team to investigate.

The gang are determined to prove to the world that ghosts are real, but tensions are running high: Éabha clashes with Raven over her new clairvoyancy gift, Fionn feels isolated by the team and Davis is frustrated by the journalist who’s determined to expose them as frauds.

None of that matters when there’s a startling disappearance. Can PSI remember how to work together in time to save their friend from a horrific fate?

Blog Tour: This Book Won't Burn by Samira Ahmed

From the New York Times bestselling author of Internment comes a timely and gripping social-suspense novel about book banning, activism, and standing up for what you believe.

After her dad abruptly abandons her family and her mom moves them a million miles from their Chicago home, Noor Khan is forced to start the last quarter of her senior year at a new school, away from everything and everyone she knows and loves. Reeling from being uprooted and deserted, Noor is certain the key to survival is to keep her head down and make it to graduation.

But things aren’t so simple. At school, Noor discovers hundreds of books have been labeled “obscene” or “pornographic” and are being removed from the library in accordance with a new school board policy. Even worse, virtually all the banned books are by queer and BIPOC authors.

Noor can’t sit back and do nothing, because that goes against everything she believes in, but challenging the status quo just might put a target on her back. Can she effect change by speaking up? Or will small-town politics—and small-town love—be her downfall?