Laura Pearson

Thank you, Jo!

Massive thanks to Nicola Gill for sending me a proof of #IdentityCrisis which I’ve heard great things about. It’s out in September. @bedsqpublishers.bsky.social

I love the sound of #TheFutureSaints. Band? Tick. Love story? Tick. I’m in. Biggest thanks to @headofzeus.bsky.social for the early proof. Out in January!

How lucky am I? @kirstydunseath.bsky.social was kind enough to send me both #WhentheCranesFlySouth and #Wreck, both of which I want to read immediately. Huge thanks! @doubledayuk.bsky.social

I’m so excited to read #GettingAway by @katesawyer.bsky.social, having loved her first two books. Big thanks to @zaffrebooks.bsky.social for sending a finished copy my way. Out now!

Feeling very lucky to have an early proof of #NextTimewillbeourTurn. I do love a second-chance love story. Big thanks to @atlanticbooks.bsky.social. Out in November.

#PartyofLiars looks like such a brilliant thriller and I’m so excited to have it in my hands. Huge thanks to @hodderfiction.bsky.social. Out now!

#WellThisisAwkward looks like it might have similarities to #SwimmingforBeginners and I’m excited to get stuck in. Big thanks for my proof copy, @emmafinniganpr.bsky.social and @bedsqpublishers.bsky.social. Out in September.

Thank you, @foxandinkbooks.bsky.social, for this finished copy of #TellittotheBees by @zoerichards.bsky.social. What a stunning cover. Out in August.

Big thanks to @vikingbooksuk.bsky.social for this beautiful hardback copy of #TheOtherWife. I can’t resist a what if. Out in July.

#TheStoryofaHeart #TheBrainatRest #TheRehearsals #TheSummerITurnedPretty

#TheManyLivesofMamaLove #SaltwaterMansions #TheOtherMother #BirthsDeathsandMarriages

Slightly late with the June reads and listens.

#BringtheHouseDown #ATalentforMurder #Room706 #Aftertaste

Thank you so much to @orionbooks.bsky.social for my finished copy of #WeLiveHereNow by @sarahpinborough.bsky.social and sinister accompanying note!

I love a story about female friendship and I’m so excited to read #IsabellasNotDead! Big thanks to @harpercollins.bsky.social for my finished copy. Out now.

#WhenSleepingWomenWake is a story of female resistance and untold bravery, and would you look at that cover. Thanks to @bethwright26.bsky.social and @quercusbooks.bsky.social for my finished copy. It’s out now.

Huge thanks to @penguinbooks.bsky.social for this gorgeous finished copy of #TheHounding, which sounds very mysterious indeed. Out tomorrow!

Any fans of the Illustrated Mum? Ready to meet the adult Dolphin? Thanks to @penguinbooks.bsky.social for this proof of #PictureImperfect. Out in August.

Thanks so much to Corvus Books for this proof of #ThePsychiatrist by @emmacurtisauthor.bsky.social. It looks like such a pageturner. Out in October.

The Book of Guilt, Consider Yourself Kissed, The Death of Us, The Names, Atmosphere, May all your Skies be Blue

From there it escalates to places I never would have expected or guessed. I honestly couldn’t put it down.

And get this, if you join @thebookload.bsky.social on Facebook you can find out how to get 50% off the hardback if you preorder this month at Waterstones.

@hqstories.bsky.social

Connie, mum of three girls, is at the centre of things, just as she was in Parks’ first novel, Playing Away.

The novel is built around a shock pregnancy announcement from Connie’s eldest daughter, Fran, who is 21 and home from university for Christmas with her new boyfriend.

#OurBeautifulMess is Adele Parks’ 25th novel in 25 years and shockingly the first one I’ve read. I took it on holiday with me and it couldn’t have made for more perfect sunlounger reading, with shock after shock after shock.

It’s tense and taut and really makes you think about what and who matters the most. I think this will be huge next year, and deservedly so.

Big thanks to @louiseswannell.bsky.social and @headlinebooks.bsky.social for my early proof. #Room706

It’s an extreme wrong place at the wrong time scenario, because both Kate and James are happily married to other people. They meet every few months for sex.

It’s also the story of Kate and Vic, the husband she’s betraying in a bid to keep hold of herself.

There’s a lot of hype around #Room706 by @ellielevenson.bsky.social, despite it not coming out until early next year, and I was desperate to get my hands on it. It tells the story of Kate and James, who are trapped in a hotel room when the building is taken under siege by a terrorist group.

Overall, it captures all the vulnerabilities and worries of being in your early twenties and out of your depth. I loved it.

Huge thanks to @orionbooks.bsky.social for my proof copy. #BitterSweet

There are strong power issues at play, and Williams delves into the murky waters of sexual relationships that feel morally wrong despite being legal and consensual.

The prose is beautiful, and it’s thought-provoking and compelling in the way all the best novels are.

#BitterSweet by Hattie Williams has a coming-of-age vibe, and I’m a sucker for that. It’s about a young female publicity assistant at a publishing house and her relationship with a much older, married male novelist.

This novel highlights brilliantly some of the ways in which society has changed for the better in the past 30 years.

Thanks so much to Borough Press for my copy. #Slags