Life of a Nerdish Mum: Casey Kelleher

Showing posts with label Casey Kelleher. Show all posts

Sunday, 19 February 2017

The Promise by Casey Kelleher - Blog Tour Review

Today on Life Of A Nerdish Mum I am extremely excited to be a part of the blog tour for The Promise by Casey Kelleher. I had Casey on my blog earlier this week answering my questions as part of Getting To Know... and now I am sharing my review of her amazing new book, The Promise.

The Promise

Family ties can be deadly...

THE PROMISE

Two sisters. One murder. And an unbreakable bond.

Growing up in squalor with their drug-addicted prostitute mother, sisters Georgie and Marnie Parker have had to endure the very darkest side of life.

When their mother is sentenced for brutally murdering a client, Georgie and Marnie’s already precarious lives are blown apart and they now share a terrible secret. Sent to a children’s home, the sisters hope this might finally be their safe haven after years of neglect. But they soon discover they’re in real danger.

Desperate to find a place of safety, Georgie and Marnie run for their lives, but end up in the hands of Delray Anderton. A violent London gangster and notorious pimp, Delray has big plans for beautiful teenager Georgie, seeing her as a chance to make some serious money.

Fiercely protective of each other, Georgie and Marnie must escape the clutches of a man who will do anything to keep the sisters for himself. And, they must keep the promise they made to each other – no one can ever know the truth.

A gritty, shocking and gripping thriller that will engross fans of Kimberly Chambers, Martina Cole and Jessie Keane.

My Review

I'll start off by saying that I absolutely loved this book. I read The Promise in two sittings and I would have done it in one if I didn't have to be sensible and get some sleep in the middle. I did not want to put it down and I thought about it when I wasn't reading it, I was that drawn into the story.

The characters in The Promise are extremely complex and you learn more about each of them the more you read. I found none of the characters are particularly likeable except Marnie and Davey, but you become invested in them enough to want to know what happens next to them and I don't really think that they are meant to be likeable.

Josie, the mum of Georgie and Marnie is just pretty much a waste of space as a mum and a human being, but she does try her hardest when she's sober. As a mum myself I spent most of the book wanting to shake her and tell her to get a grip. How she produced someone as joyful as Marnie and as strong as Georgie I'll never know. Marnie is honestly a little ray of sunshine throughout the book.

Delray is the absolute epitome of pimp scumbag, but you can see how he charms women into thinking he's a nice guy before he changes into the horror he actually is. He is so real, I could just picture him perfectly.

The story is fast paced and covers some important topics. It depicts how awful life can be as a prostitute and it shows the horrendous affect sexual abuse can have on a child without going into any unnecessary detail, It also touches on child sex trafficking which right now is in the forefront of the news and it is definitely something that needs to be talked about more.

There are a few moments in the book which completely took me off guard and one in particular that blew my mind, Though you're always waiting for a "reveal" in a crime novel, this one still came completely from left field for me.

Though The Promise is full of darkness and the horror of real life for some people, it was compulsive reading and I thought the writing was excellent. I am looking forward to more from Casey Kelleher in the future and if you haven't read one of her books yet, go make the time to do so.

I gave The Promise 5 stars.

About The Author

I was extremely lucky to have Casey take part in my Getting To Know... feature, so for even more information, please go take a look here.

Born in Cuckfield, West Sussex, Casey Kelleher grew up as an avid reader and a huge fan of author Martina Cole.

Whilst working as a beauty therapist and bringing up her three children together with her husband, Casey penned her debut novel Rotten to the Core. Its success meant that she could give up her day job and concentrate on writing full time.

She has since published Rise and Fall, Heartless, Bad Blood, The Taken and her latest release, The Promise.

To Connect With Casey Kelleher

www.caseykelleher.co.uk

www.facebook.com/officialcaseykelleher

http://caseykelleher.wordpress.com

Twitter: @caseykelleher

Links To Buy Your Own Copy Of The Promise

🇬🇧 http://amzn.to/2gRqFjE

🇺🇸 http://amzn.to/2gBsbps

Don't Forget To Check Out The Rest Of The Blog Tour

Tuesday, 14 February 2017

Getting To Know... Casey Kelleher

I'm excited today to welcome Casey Kelleher to Getting To Know... Casey is the author of Crime Fiction and her next book, The Promise is being published this coming Friday, 17th of February 2017.

Your books are all crime fiction, what is it that draws you to this genre?

I remember reading my first Martina Cole novel - The Ladykiller when I was about sixteen and after my usual reads of authors such as Danielle Steel and Virginia Andrews, Martina's book was an eye opener, to say the least. I loved reading about the criminal underworld, the darkness and the grit. I was hooked after that.

Your books are all stand alone novels, did you make a conscious decision to do this rather than a series or was it a more organic process?

I think it's always been a conscious decision for me to do stand alone's. I start with a story that I'll already have a vague beginning and an ending for. I do like to leave a little bit to the reader's imagination at the end of the novel, so there's always the feeling that the characters still have a bit more of a journey to go on. As if we only were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of that character's story.

I am considering doing a series in the future, though. I've got a really exciting idea that I've been thinking about that I might be able to put into play next year. So a series is certainly a possibility in the future.

Do you have a favourite character that you have written so far?

I loved writing Harry Woods in BAD BLOOD. In my mind's eye, I always pictured Ray Winstone as Harry's character. A hard man with a wicked sense of humour and a sense of loyalty to his family that holds no bounds.

I also loved writing about Lena Cona in THE TAKEN. Her journey was a harrowing one, and she faced so many heartbreaking situations, but she was so spurred on by her love for her daughter that she just never gave up. I loved her for that.

When you're writing, do you have a set routine or schedule that you like to follow?

I try to do the bulk of my writing when I'm at home alone during the day. My husband and teenage sons can be a bit distracting otherwise. I love doing writing sprints. It really helps with the word count up. If I can do two thousand words a day, then I'm very happy with that.

Do you have a favourite thing about being an author?

I think everything about being an author is great.

I'm a complete bookworm, and now I'm doing a job that I love. I get to hear about all the new books coming out, I have lots of authors as friends, I go to the crime festivals, it's all great. Though if I have to pick my most favourite bit about being an author I'd say it's when I first receive a proof copy of my finished book. All that work that has been inside my head for so long, is finally real, in the form of a book. There's nothing quite like it.

You are a fully qualified Holistic Therapist, can you tell me more about that and why you decided to make the switch to writing?

I worked in the beauty industry for almost ten years and loved it. I really enjoyed working in some fantastic spa's and salons and I made a lot of really good friends too.

I guess my change in career was mainly down to my Grandad. He inspired me.

He was in his 90's when he bought himself a laptop, with the intention of teaching himself how to use it so that he could write his own life story. Sadly, he'd only managed to write a few chapters before he passed away. It got me thinking about what I’d like to do whilst I still can, and whether we all do all really have a book in us. I set myself the challenge of seeing if I could write a book, and a year later 'Rotten to the Core' was complete.

I didn't think it would take off the way it did, but suddenly there just wasn't enough hours in the day for me to work my day job and write books too. So something had to give.

It was a huge risk leaving my day job, but one that paid off thankfully.

When you're not writing, what would we find you doing?

Spending time with my husband and kids, shopping, watching The Real Housewives, going out with my friends.

You're a big reader and always have been. Do you remember the first book or book series that you absolutely fell in love with?

The first book I ever fell in love with was The Little Matchgirl by Hans Christian Andersen. I was only five years old, and I remember asking my mum to read it to me over and over again. Tragic, but also magical. I also loved Nancy Drew, and the Sweet Valley High books.

Do you have a favourite author?

The queen of crime herself, Martina Cole.

I also loved Gillian Flynn's 'Gone Girl' and Emma Donoghue's 'Room'.

What can we look forward to next from you?

THE PROMISE is my next book, which is due for publication on 17th February 2017. We've just done the cover reveal and the response has been amazing. It went straight into the bestseller's chart at number 31 so I'm really excited about that one. I'm also working on my 7th book as we speak... it's all very exciting, but you'll have to watch this space to hear more on that one.

Thank you so much to Casey for taking the time to answer my questions in the run up to publication day! To pre order your copy of The Promise click here! Also keep your eye out soon for my review of The Promise as part of the blog tour!

To Connect With Casey Kelleher

Website - http://www.caseykelleher.co.uk/

Blog - https://caseykelleher.wordpress.com/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/officialcaseykelleher

Twitter - @caseykelleher