Winner of the John Tripp award for poetry, Dafydd Wyn reads from his poetry

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My review of “No Sex Please, I’m Menopausal” by Stevie Turner

I’ve recently published D G Kaye’s review of this book and due to her praise and my intrigue, I  couldn’t help myself and had to read it, too. I was not disappointed.

It is written with a great sense of humour and observational wit about the consequences of ageing in men and women. While the title is cleverly chosen and draws our attention, there is much more than humour to this story. It is honest and reflective as well as entertaining, it has more plot than you would have expected and makes you think about and care for the characters.

Unpredictable and avoiding unnecessary stereotypes this surprised me in many ways. There is a lot of funny scenes in this as well as some more serious notes. Hugely enjoyable, an easy and compelling read that is definitely recommended.

Blurb:

After going through the menopause Lyn finds that she no longer wants sex. This is unfortunate, as her husband Neil still does. When he discards her after 35 years of marriage like an old worn out shoe, Lyn moves to Cornwall to start a new life. However, new friends are hard to find, and she feels lonely.

On the spur of the moment she decides to join an online dating site, ‘MatchULike’, just for companionship. Amongst the peculiar people she meets is Peter; shy, and conscious that his ‘gentleman’s’ operation has rendered him an unattractive prospect in the marriage stakes. Lyn makes a friend of Peter, but when Neil gets to hear about the friendship he realises too late that there is more to a relationship than just sex, and he suddenly starts to appear back on the scene and wants to turn her life upside down all over again!

Get this book on Amazon! 

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/StevieTurnerAuthor

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/StevieTurner6

Blog:  https://steviet3.wordpress.com/

Google: https://plus.google.com/u/0/105747643789021738179/posts/p/pub

Pinterest:  https://uk.pinterest.com/stevieturner988/

Amazon Author Page:  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stevie-Turner/e/B00AV7YOTU/

Email: stevieturner3@hotmail.co.uk

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7172051.Stevie_Turner

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClWFuLQHDqGmOM3KbKJ-Z0g

Koobug:   http://koobug.com/stevie_56

LinkedIn:    https://www.linkedin.com/profile/preview?vpa=pub&locale=en_US

If you would like to read even more about me (!), please check out Creative Director Ian’s interview at the excellent author site www.koobug.com below,  and also my Amazon author page and other interviews given below.  Thanks to all concerned for the interviews.

http://koobug.com/discover  for Ian’s interview , Creative Director of www.Koobug.com

http://theunleashedreviewboard.wordpress.com/2014/06/15/mr-controversy-gains-greater-insight-into-june-author-spotlight-stevie-turner/    for The Review Board’s interview of me.

http://theopeningsentence.wordpress.com/2014/06/27/author-interview-stevie-turner/ for Indie author Chris Harrison’s interview of me.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stevie-Turner/e/B00AV7YOTU/  Stevie’s Amazon author page.

http://kindleninjareviews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/welcome-to-episode-23-of-conversations.html  KindleNinja’s interview of me.

http://www.authorsden.com/stevieaturner

http://www.bang2write.com/2014/11/5-reasons-to-write-novels-by-stevie-turner.html  Thanks to Lucy V Hay of www.Bang2Write.com for this one.

Here’s one  from April 2015 with Nonnie Jules, President of the Rave Reviews Book Club:

https://ravereviewsbynonniejules.wordpress.com/2015/04/17/stevie-turner-in-whos-on-the-shelf-with-nonnie-jules/

Thanks to Sacha Black for this one:

http://sachablack.co.uk/2015/05/22/interview-with-author-stevie-turner/

You can also find me on Book Goodies.  Here’s their interview of me:

http://bookgoodies.com/interview-with-author-stevie-turner/

Thanks to Chris, the Story Reading Ape for featuring me on his WordPress blog:

http://thestoryreadingapeblog.com/2015/12/12/read-about-guest-author-stevie-turner/

Thanks to BookGoodies:

http://bookgoodies.com/interview-with-author-stevie-turner/

Thanks to Mercedes Fox for this one from January 2016 .  Find out what I want to do to change the world!

https://mercedesfoxbooks.com/meet-author-stevie-turner/

My thanks go to Malcolm Archibald for this interview:

https://malcolmarchibald.wordpress.com/

C.M Blackwood gets my thanks for this magazine interview:

https://cmblackwood.wordpress.com/2016/09/21/guest-author-stevie-turner/

Here’s the latest interview of me from Stephen Bentley on 20th October 2016:

https://www.stephenbentley.info/discover-stevie-turner-author-spotlight/

Jen Jones: Talk about her book “Welsh Quilts” with an exhibition of some of her fine quilt collection

Mystery Mondays Review: “The Silent Quarry” by Cheryl Rees-Price #LlandeiloLitFest

“The Silent Quarry” is a very cleverly plotted gem.  An episode set in the past is revisited, a terrible crime committed in said Quarry in a quiet village in Wales, with the survivor hinting at the horrors suffered.

Then the clock winds forward and we move into the life of said victim,  28 years later, when a new crime is committed with links to the old. Memory loss and recovery are used excellently, the suspense and the mystery are very well handled throughout and maintain a draw into the book that is hard to resist.

I read this at a very busy time in my life but once I had started I could simply not stop. Very well written without the need for excessive cliff-hangers or reader manipulation this is a very enjoyable thriller. The characters are well chosen, from the detective to the victim.With some dark parts and some more traditional mystery elements, the book should happily appeal to crime fiction fans of many persuasions. A great read.

I’m very pleased to announce that Cheryl will be part of a panel discussion at the Llandeilo LitFest about Welsh thrillers on Saturday 29th April at noon at the Angel Inn.

 

Official blurb for the book:
In 1987 a quiet Welsh village was devastated by a brutal attack on two schoolgirls, Bethan Hopkins and Gwen Collier. Only Gwen survived, with horrific injuries and no memory of the attack. The killer was never caught.
Now, nearly thirty years later, Gwen has gone missing and DI Winter Meadows is assigned to the case. Charismatic and intuitive, he has an uncanny gift for finding the truth. But in this small and close-knit community, the past is never far away, and those who have secrets will go to any lengths to keep them. Tensions run high as old feelings and accusations are stirred. And DI Meadows has to battle his own demons as he uncovers a truth he wished had stayed in the past …
The Silent Quarry is the first in the DI Winter Meadows series by Cheryl Rees-Price.

Cheryl Rees-Price is the author of the DI Winter Meadows crime series published by Accent Press. Cheryl was born in Cardiff and now lives in Brynaman. She works as a finance director for a project management company. Titles include Echoes, The Silent Quarry and Frozen Minds.

Ganed Cheryl yng Nghaerdydd ond mae bellach yn byw ger Brynaman. Mae’n gweithio fel cyfarwyddwr ariannol ac hi yw awdur y gyfres DI Winter Meadows gan Accent Press. Mae’n awdur ar nifer o lyfrau eraill gan gynnwys Echoes, The Silent Quarry a Frozen Minds. 

Links

Website

Echoes

The Silent Quarry

Frozen Minds

Facebook

Twitter

Review: “The Comet Seekers” by Helen Sedgwick

I listened to this as an audiobook and I enjoyed it very much. The story was told in two parts, one describing a boy who lived with a mother more interested in ghosts than in her own son, because of her feeling an obligation to the family and their generation long tradition. She sees the ghosts when the comets come.
Then there is Roisin who loves astrology and the comets and who wants to see the entire magical world, but she is in love with a boy in Ireland who doesn’t want to leave the farm. There is also some extra complication to her love, that provides extra interest.

Then there are my favourite sections of the book, the comet parts that intersperse the narrative and serve as manifold metaphors and analogies: comets as companions, returning objects and people, special events, magic and the unexplicable.
There is much to enjoy in this, although the back and forth between the characters did wear off at some stage for me and for a while I wasn’t always sure of the direction of the novel, so much I wanted it to come to the point quicker. It all comes together nicely, however, and is very enjoyable a read.

4 1/2 Stars.

Roisin and François first meet in the snowy white expanse of Antarctica. And everything changes. While Roisin grew up in a tiny village in Ireland, ablaze with a passion for science and the skies and for all there is to discover about the world, François was raised by his beautiful young mother, who dreamt of new worlds but was unable to turn her back on her past.

As we loop back through their lives, glimpsing each of them only when a comet is visible in the skies above, we see how their paths cross as they come closer and closer to this moment. Theirs are lives filled with love and hope and heartbreak, in a story that shows how strangers can be connected and ghosts can be real, and the world can be as lonely or as beautiful as the comets themselves.

A reading of Karla Brading’s latest children’s book ‘The Valley of Whispers,’ followed by writing exercises

Judith Barrow and Phil Carradice discuss the powerful influence of World War 2 on literary inspiration

Check out the latest praise for Judith’s work here: http://www.georgiarosebooks.com/bookreview-familysaga-living-shadows-judith-barrow-barrow_judith/

Reading by Phil Carradice from his latest novel “Star Gazers”

Book review: “No Sex Please I’m Menopausal” by Stevie Turner

Sunday book review by D.G. Kaye, No Sex Please I’m Menopausal by Stevie Turner, Women’s fiction, Menopause and divorce

Source: Sunday book review, No Sex Please I’m Menopausal – Stevie Turner

If you like women’s fiction, a bit of chick-lit, and can identify with menopausal madness, you’ll like this book.

 

Get this book on Amazon! 

 

Blurb:

After going through the menopause Lyn finds that she no longer wants sex. This is unfortunate, as her husband Neil still does. When he discards her after 35 years of marriage like an old worn out shoe, Lyn moves to Cornwall to start a new life. However, new friends are hard to find, and she feels lonely.

On the spur of the moment she decides to join an online dating site, ‘MatchULike’, just for companionship. Amongst the peculiar people she meets is Peter; shy, and conscious that his ‘gentleman’s’ operation has rendered him an unattractive prospect in the marriage stakes. Lyn makes a friend of Peter, but when Neil gets to hear about the friendship he realises too late that there is more to a relationship than just sex, and he suddenly starts to appear back on the scene and wants to turn her life upside down all over again!

 

D.G. Kaye’s 5 Star Review

 

I thoroughly enjoyed this story about Lyn, whose life is turned around after experiencing residual effects of menopause, while her husband Neil seems to be going through a mid-life crisis. Lyn discovers Neil’s philandering ways by finding out about his adulterous affair he’s having to satisfy his sex drive. This escapade leads to the end of their marriage.
Lyn’s devastation has her moving away and starting a new life with new adventures, friends and relationships. Meanwhile, ‘back at the ranch’, Neil learns his newfound freedom and relationship with a younger woman isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and finds himself pining for his ex wife.
The story mirrors real life in many ways – pitfalls in relationships, side effects of menopause, and marriage mishaps. I found myself laughing with Lyn and drawn into her drama and decisions. And although I’m in total disagreement with some of the choices she made at the end of this book, it was her story, not mine, and that didn’t change the fact that the story was engaging and well written.

Angela Fish reading from her latest book ‘Ben and the Spider Lake’ (ages 5-9)