Blog Tour | Entrapped #review #QandA

I have a double feature for you today as well as a QandA with author Claire Ayres I will also be sharing my thoughts on her debut Entrapped.

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Cellist, Luka, has moved to Bristol to start a new job and recover from the betrayal of finding his best friend and his girlfriend in bed together. He doesn’t plan on the emotional thunderstorm that meeting his next-door neighbour Jess causes.

Jess had everything, a man she loved, friends she adored and then the world crashed around her. Depression came from nowhere and slowly started ripping her life away. Now she lives a lonely, sad life but the music which she keeps hearing next door is waking her up and she doesn’t know why.

Join Luka and Jess as they discover life after heartache, how to forgive and how to live and love again.

Amazon | Goodreads

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What inspired you to write Entrapped?

I wanted a book which tackled mental health in some way and also encompassed my love of music knowing that the story just kind of happened.

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You are a big mental health advocate was it important to you to write a book that had it as a prominent part of the story?

Absolutely, although I didn’t want mental health to overwhelm the book. I wanted to show that mental health is a normal part of life and while some people have some really negative reactions to it most are very accepting and will help you get where you want to be.

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Do you feel like it was a natural progression going from blogging to writing or had you been writing for longer?

It was quite natural for me but it took me a very long time, I had a lot of self-doubt about writing a novel and spent a lot of time doubting my ability to be able to write fiction. It turns out once I stopped stressing and started writing the words came naturally.

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How have you found the balance between writing, blogging and your personal life?

It’s been really tough at times, I’ve had to dramatically cut down my blogging because I just couldn’t cope with the demands any more. I’m disappointed but I have so many other things going on now it’s also really exciting. I’ve also been through a lot of upheaval in my personal life recently which has made it doubly hard to get anything at all done but I’m here and writing this now so that’s an achievement I will take. 

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What advice would you have for other aspiring writers?Just do it, don’t sit on self-doubt for years like I did. Just start writing and see where it takes you.

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My thoughts…

I will admit to finding this book quite difficult to get into, I think that was more to do with my headspace when I sat down to read it and that it has quite an emotional beginning.

Entrapped has everything that you expect to find in a romance two people with all the sparks, miscommunication leading to issues and some past problems resurfacing. However it also has things that you might not have expected like a realistic portrayal of depression and how it can upend your life and that classical music is super sexy.

I liked Jess, there were maybe a few moments near the beginning where I thought she was going to fall too much into being cliché, however as the book progressed she really came into her own. She made mistakes but she owned up to them and two things that I especially loved about her was that she unapologetically enjoyed sex and didn’t think that Luka was going to solve her problems.

Luka was a nice character I liked that he was a good guy and that he wasn’t portrayed as overly tough, that he was open about his feelings and how badly he had been hurt.

The writing was good, it seemed to flow amazingly well through the steamy scenes. The dialogue was a bit formal at times and didn’t feel as natural which did hinder my reading experience a little but overall it was an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon.

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Well you lucky ducks have a very special giveaway that you can enter with a first and second prize, so you’ve got even more chances to win…

1st Prize: Signed copy of Entrapped and a copy of 7th Symphony by Apocalyptica
2nd Prize: eCopy of Entrapped

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Claire lives in Bristol, UK and has taken her inspiration from the people and the places she has seen over the years. She always has a book close at hand and devours Fantasy and Romance like some devour chocolate! Claire loves a happily ever after followed by lots of bloody sword-fighting and dangerous dragons! But when writing her debut novel Entrapped drew on her childhood ambition to be a musician and one of the instruments she played and still loves as a centre-point.

Claire is also a passionate mental health advocate who lives with bipolar disorder and has done regular radio interviews and even some TV. She is also a huge heavy metal fan and can regularly be found banging her head at a concert or festival.

Website | Twitter

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