BLOG TOUR: While My Eyes Were Closed by Linda Green

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour today for Linda Green's latest book, While My Eyes Were Wide Shut. If you are after a gripping read that may freak you out a little bit then look no further:

 Lisa Dale shuts her eyes and counts to one hundred during a game of hide and seek. When she opens them, her four-year-old daughter Ella is gone. Disappeared without a trace. The police, the media and Lisa's family all think they know who snatched Ella. But what if the person who took her isn't a stranger? What if they are convinced they are doing the right thing? And what if Lisa's little girl is in danger of disappearing forever?

Publisher: Quercus

Pages: 416

This book was excellent but seriously creepy! As a mother of a four-year-old, there were times when this book made me feel sick as the idea of losing my own child was at the forefront of my mind. Lisa Dale is a busy mum, like many, trying to juggle different responsibilities; she closes her eyes when playing hide and seek with her four-year-old daughter in the park, when she opens them Ella is gone. Not hiding but gone. The police descend and a man hunt begins. Lisa and her husband Alex are sure that Ella has been taken as she would not be one to wander off. But who has taken her? She didn't scream as Lisa would have heard her; she who has taken her daughter and turned her world upside down?
While My Eyes Were Closed is more than a missing child story. I
felt like it was a real psychological drama. It's difficult not to give too much away but the character who has taken Ella is very complex. You begin to realise that they think they are in the right by taking the little girl which just adds to the tension as you have no idea just how far they will go.
While My Eyes Were Closed is a gripping read, I flew through it in just over a day, it is an impressive  book which I highly recommend.

Many thanks to Quercus for inviting me to be part of this blog tour, don't forget to check out the other stops.

Book Review: 10 Reasons Not to Fall in Love by Linda Green

1. I'd have to shave my legs- even in Winter.
2. Couldn't get away with wearing big knickers.
3. Or having spaghetti hoops for tea.
4. He'd have to meet my mother.
5. My boss is my ex and no man could accept that.

6. Single mums are about as attractive to men as syphilis.
7. 'I'll Never Fall in Love Again' is my theme tune.
8. Last time I was dumped for a weather girl.
9. I no longer trust men.
And most importantly...
10. Can't risk Alfie getting hurt again.
Jo Gilroy gave her heart away once. She won't be making the same mistake twice. In fact, she's got 10 reasons not to fall in love. Until Dan Brady comes along, with some reasons of his own...

The lovely Verity recommended this book to me and I'm so glad she did as I really enjoyed it.
Jo Gilroy is a very believable character, she has had her life turned upside down by the birth of her first child and the fact that her husband walked out on his new family just one year in. She has no confidence and no interest in love until Dan Brady, a balloon sculptor, comes into her life.
The chapters alternate between the present situation and Dan's childhood. The reader gradually builds up a picture of the domestic abuse that Dan witnessed his mother suffer at the hands of his drunk and violent father. Linda Green deals with a very sensitive subject extremely well, she shows through Dan, the emotional scars that people are left with in their adult lives.
10 Reasons Not to Fall in Love contains a lot of humour, most of which is provided by 1 year old Alfie in the way that only children can. I was willing Jo and Dan to get together from the moment they met but everything seems against them.
I would highly recommend this book, Linda Green has a good mix of humour and romance whilst also exploring a serious and sensitive issue. I have read Linda Green's other book Things I Wish I'd Known which is also very good, you can read my review by clicking here.

Book Review: Things I Wish I'd Known by Linda Green

When Claire Cooper was fifteen, she'd swear on her Wham album that...
1. Big hair and rah-rah skirts were here to stay
2. Spandau Ballet would never split up
3. She would marry her idol, heart-throb footballer Andy Pailes
Fast-forward twenty years and things haven't quite gone to plan. And when Claire discovers the 'dream list' she wrote as a teenager, she realises how far her life is from the one she imagined. Divorced, stuck in a dead-end job and dating an ambulance-chasing personal injury lawyer, she decides it's time to put her life back on track.
But what really happened between Claire and her teen idol all those years ago?
And is meeting him again the way to make her dreams come true?
Or a huge mistake?

After reading the blurb I was really excited about starting this book. I was born in 1982 and I remember the 80's fondly, my sister is 6 years older than me and she was a proper 80's child; she had the perm, the Bros tapes and subscription to Just Seventeen! This book is a lot of fun and I loved Linda Green's writing style, we jump between Claire in the present and Claire as the 16 year old, learning more and more about her as the book goes on. I can remember having crushes on the celebrities of that time and I think that the author totally captured the feelings of idolisation you have as a teenager. I loved Claire's fantasy scenarios with Andy and the way in which they were mirrored with what really happened between the two of them.
This book made me laugh on so many occasions and also brought back so many memories, shopping trips to Tammy Girl and buying Smash Hits for the posters and song lyrics. However, this book also has a really emotional twist too which I was in no way expecting. As we learn more about what really happened with Claire and Andy we see the dangerous consequences of falling in love with your idol. When Claire is confronted with Andy in the present she has to make herself see him properly for the first time and decide whether she wants him to be part of her life or not.
Things I Wish I'd Known is a very entertaining book, I think that so many readers will identify with Claire's character. I would highly recommend this one and I shall be off in search of Linda Green's other books.

Thank you to Headline for sending me this book to review.