The Distant Hills

In The Distant Hills it is 1689 and England and France are about to be plunged into war.

Philip Devalle is upset at this prospect, as he is half English and half French.

Philip, known for his efforts to ensure that King William III became the King of England, during the Glorious Revolution, is safe and secure. At least for the moment. But all his scheming and plotting have garnered him a variety of enemies.

King Louis, King of France, sends an invitation to Philip to meet with him. This intrigues Philip, who previously worked for King Louis in the past, he decides to take the risk of travelling to meet with the King in Versailles.

After all, the meeting might prove to be to his advantage. After all, what on earth could possibly go wrong? Because he has no enemies in France.

Unfortunately this proves to wrong and his very life is endangered in France.  He must seek to discover who wishes him dead and seek revenge against them.

But who wants him dead? Might it even be King Louis himself?

Whoever it is, Philip must seek them out. And kill them, before they can kill him.

The book is published by Matador at £9.99.

Aberystwyth Boy

Aberystwyth Boy is a collection of short stories from Gwynn Davis which are set in rural West Wales.

Gwynn Davis is a native Welsh speaker the magical tone of the Welsh language shines through all of these stories.

The stories are set during the 1950s and 1960s and look at the world through the eyes of Gareth who is a teenage boy, who, as teenage boys tend to do, sees everything around him, but sometimes does not fully comprehend all that he sees.

There's the story of a new game called Aberystwyth, a story featuring the local airport (probably with the shortest airport runway in the world) a local airport that might or might not exist, you'll have to read the book to learn the truth about that one!

There's stories of love won and lost, of relatives deemed untrustworthy by other adults, the death of a beloved relative, a visit of a prince and many other interesting pieces of the life of a teenage boy living in rural West Wales.

It's a first rate collection of stories and deserves to be widely read by people from Wales, people who have holidayed in Wales, people who only heard of Wales in passing or who have never heard of Wales before.

It is published by Matador Books at a remarkably reasonable £7.95.

Untangling the Webs

Untangling the Webs is a romantic novel from Joy Pearson.

It details the lives of four women and the men in their lives.

There's Alison, she's single and is an interior designer, there's Julia, she is married and works as a beautician, Trudie, who is a widowed stress counsellor and Phoebe who is a widow of independent means.

With the assistance of a sympathetic and loyal confidante these women must cope with shocking events, unwanted and persistent attention, deceit, bad behaviour and infidelity.

The novel effortlessly moves between Cheshire, Cornwall and Worcestershire and Provence in France.

It explores how people can cope with life when things begin to become a little tough, how a little bit of empathy, a smidgen of humour, a dash of determination and the unconditional support of good friends can go a long way to helping untangle the webs of life so that they can know peace, joy and happiness once again.

It's a thoughtful romantic novel with elements of mystery and is published by The Book Guild at £8.99.

Charlie Green and the Knights of the Round Table

Charlie Green and the Knights of the Round Table is another first rate children's novel from Martyn Blunden, featuring Charlie Green, everyone's favourite time traveller.

Charlie has a magic plane that can whisk him back in time to any period so when an elderly man in a museum shows him so secret parchments which contains a confession from Merlin, King Arthur's adviser and court wizard, and a revelation about some skulduggery and treason within Camelot, Charlie realised that something terrible must have happened back in the times of King Arthur and the Knights of the round Table.

Charlie decides that he will have to travel back in time to correct a very ancient wrong. To disprove the lie that Sir Lancelot betrayed King Arthur.

But when he arrives back in time, Charlie realises that he is really quite ignorant about the century he is visiting and finds it very hard indeed to get anyone to listen to him.

He discovers that the answers he seeks are locked away on Avalon, the magical island. A magical island that is highly guarded to keep its secrets safe from prying eyes.

But Avalon has not met the likes of Charlie before and Charlie is dedicated to ensuring that he successfully completes his mission.

Charlie Green and the Knights of the Round Table is published by Matador at £8.99 and will make a super Christmas present for children of all ages.

The Egg and the Family

The Egg and the Family is a remarkable first-hand account by Steve Green, who shares the pioneering early days of IVF treatment.

Steve Green, PhD, is a Clinical Embryologist who is widely considered as being one of the founders of  modern embryology.

In his book he charts his own personal journey of working at the leading edge of IVF research.

From life as a homeless teenager in Grimsby to a leading IVF pioneer, Steve's story is a truly fascinating one.

Despised by his father who threw him out of the family home at 16 for the crime of wanting to better himself by seeking an education, he had a difficult start, but Steve was determined that he would obtain an education and escape the typical working class life that was the fate of his contemporaries.

And so he did, becoming a laboratory technician and working hard to establish himself as a leading authority on IVF, and the author of in excess of 50 academic papers on the subject.

He helped many thousands of people become parents, but this was not without costs to his person life.

It is an interesting, compelling and highly personal account of what it was like to be an IVF pioneer.

The book really needs to be on the shelf of any MD who deals with infertile couples and any student of embryology.

It's published by The Book Guild at £8.99. 
 

Times and Places

Times and Places is an interesting novel from Keith Anthony.

It is a decade since the death of Justine, the daughter of Fergus and his wife, Sylvie. Fergus is bedevilled by anxiety and he and his wife decide to take a cruise.

On the cruise Fergus meets a wide variety of characters, some he finds interesting and enchanting, others irritate him or even leave him feeling disgusted.

He begins to feel conflicting emotions and a whole chain of rather bizarre happenings on board the ship leaves him feeling even more anxious than before.

By the clever use of flashbacks Keith Anthony explores the life of Justine, her romance (albeit short lived) the way that she lost her life and a subsequent police investigation into her death is begun.

Meanwhile, back in the present day on the cruise ship, Fergus finds himself at a mental breaking point, convinced that he has done something truly terrible.

Has he done something truly terrible? Even if he has not, by the time the ship returns to port, his life will have been changed for ever.

It's a quirky, character-driven novel which is also emotionally charged, so do expect to have a few moist eyes, at least.

It's published by The Book Guild at £9.49.

Fire and Honey

Fire and Honey is a novel by C J Evans that is set in the Caribbean.

Susan and Andrea believe that they deserve romance and adventure, plus something to distance themselves a little form their troubled pasts.

And so it is that the two women decide to seek both adventure and romance amongst the Caribbean islands.

And, as if by magic, they meet two utterly charming men and all seems set fair for the romance and adventure that they were craving.

Or does it? Because things are never quite what they seem and soon the two women find themselves drawn into a web of mystery, intrigue and lies, where past evils lurk beneath the surface and ancient curses seem to hold sway and threaten to engulf everyone they come into contact with.

Will Susan and Andrea survive and find happiness? Or will they be destroyed by the dark forces that swirl around them?

This book is published by The Book Guild at £7.99.