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REVIEW: A Sky Painted Gold by Laura Wood

Hello all! Hope you're all enjoying the summer! I'm currently on holiday in a huge castle in the South of France and enjoying relaxing, playing games, and of course reading a lot!  Today's post is a review of a dreamy summer romance that's perfect for your holiday TBRs! Title:  A Sky Painted Gold Author:  Laura Wood Series:   n/a Pages:   356 Publisher:  Scholastic Date of Publication:  5th July, 2018 Source:  Publisher for review* Synopsis from Goodreads: Growing up in her sleepy Cornish village dreaming of being a writer, sixteen-year-old Lou has always wondered about the grand Cardew house which has stood empty for years. And when the owners arrive for the summer - a handsome, dashing brother and sister - Lou is quite swept off her feet and into a world of moonlit cocktail parties and glamour beyond her wildest dreams. But, as she grows closer to the Cardews, is she abandoning her own ambitions... And is there something darker lurkin...

United We Spy Blog Tour - The End! (Plus a Giveaway!)

The end of the blog tour, and the series, that is. Though this post isn't actually about The End. It's about Rachel Morgan and Joe Solomon, professional badasses and all around great people and spies. I was really excited to be given the opportunity to talk about two of my favourite characters in the series (though, let's face it, they're all my favourite.) And, if me talking about Mama Morgan and Joe doesn't appeal to you all that much, there will be a giveaway for a copy of United We Spy, too! Trust me when I say that you want this book. You really want this book.


Cammie Morgan has lost her father and her memory, but in the heart-pounding conclusion to the best-selling Gallagher Girls series, she finds her greatest mission yet. Cammie and her friends finally know why the terrorist organization called the Circle of Cavan has been hunting her. Now the spy girls and Zach must track down the Circle’s elite members to stop them before they implement a master plan that will change Cammie—and her country—forever.

Now, as you may or may not know, I am a big fan of parents in YA, and Rachel Morgan - mother of our very own Cammie - is one of my favourites. Head of the Gallagher Academy, brilliant spy and caring, loving mother, she's pretty much amazing. 

I love the fact that even though she is this great spy and sometimes she has to go off in order to protect the people she loves, or just to do spy stuff, she still makes time for her and Cammie to eat dinner together sometimes or just to talk, just to be there for each other after all the things that happen. Ever since what happened to Cammie's dad, they've been all each other has and there is a really strong family bond there that makes itself apparent in every book in the Gallagher Girls series. 

Then there's also Joe Solomon, the new CoveOps teacher in the first book, whose role in the story grew a lot from just being their hot new (old enough to be their parent) teacher. He had been best friends with Cammie's dad and promised to protect his family should anything happen to him. He's also involved with Zach (gorgeous, funny, caring, secretive spy boy) and their relationship is another one of the one's that I really love in this series (and no, it's not that kind of relationship). He's like a father to Zach sometimes, and sometimes he's like a father to Cammie, too, though he never tries to push too far to replace her real father, especially since he knew him. Sometimes he keeps secrets that make him out to look like the bad guy, but he's always trying to do stuff for the best, really. He's a good guy, that Joe Solomon. A good man, indeed.

I'm really annoyed, actually, because in my mind I had planned loads of amazing stuff to write about these characters and this is all I'm coming up with and I'm not doing them justice, but you just need to know that they really are great. They are more than I am making them out to be, even if they're not the main characters. The worst thing about United We Spy was the fact that there wasn't enough Rachel and Joe in it (for me.) I love them a lot. I love all of the characters a lot. I love the books a lot, and I have mixed feelings about them ending, but I am so glad that they exist, and that I was forced into reading them because it is now one of my favourite series and Ally Carter is one of my favourite authors and they're just so great and I've completely gone of the point so I'm going to stop now and post some quotes before I get all weird and sentimental.


(I was going to put some quotes here because it seemed like the apt thing to do but there are hardly any! All the internet cares about are Zach and Cammie and the funny bits. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love those parts too are reading through lists of quotes make me want to reread the books realllly badly, but it's annoying when you're looking for quotes of the many beautiful mother-daughter moments, or the sharp stuff that Rachel and Joe say (because the books have lots of both of those things, but clearly the internet does not giveth a shit.))

Anyhooooo! Giveaway time! Who wants a copy of United We Spy? I don't think it even matters if you've read the other books. It can be the motivation for you to start reading this WONDERFUL SERIES. (though I think it'd be nicer if it did go to someone who desperately wanted it, obviously.)

The only terms and conditions are that you live in the UK as this prize is being provided by the publisher :) 

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Well, that's it really. I hope you've enjoyed the blog tour - I definitely have :)


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