It’s a real pleasure today to be joining the blog tour for A Family Affair by Joy Wood: independently published on 20th November, it’s now available for kindle (free through Kindle Unlimited) and in paperback via Amazon in the UK and US. My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support.
Ooh, I do wish I could have shared a review – but this is another book that I’ve had to add to my future reading list, in the hope I can catch up with it later. Joy and I do go back rather a long way – she joined me on the blog when she was a debut author back in 2016 (you can read her guest post again here – it’s still one of my favourites!). I then went on to read For the Love of Emily (you’ll find my review here) – an adult romance (and, if I’m honest, a little outside my comfort zone), but the story was strong, a thriller filled with secrets and betrayal that had me on the edge of my seat, and there was no doubting the quality of the writing. Her more recent books have been crime thrillers with a romantic edge – and I very much enjoyed her 2021 release, Getting Away with Murder. The writing was really accomplished, great storytelling, drawing you in and immersing you in the characters’ lives – particularly intense and gripping, with such well developed characters. I was so delighted to see that she’d won the RNA Romantic Thriller award in 2025 for Whatever It Takes – she worked so very hard to establish herself as an author, while being so supportive of others, and deserves every success, both now and in the future. And I will be reading more of her books – promise!
But let’s take a closer look at her latest…
Odele Gardia . . . married to wealthy businessman Howard, is the hard-nosed matriarch of the family and will stop at nothing to achieve her goals. She’s ruthless in the boardroom and not afraid to lean on adversaries.
Sebastian Gardia . . . Odele’s brother and business partner. His wife, Freya, reveals that she is pregnant with their first child.
Elliot . . . the prodigal son, is returning from America with his girlfriend, intending to propose to her.
Business is booming, her brother is going to become a father, and her son is coming home – it’s surely a time to celebrate. But Odele is hiding a huge secret and is constantly looking over her shoulder. If the secret came out, it would destroy the family.
Jimmy Alder . . . booted out of the police force, has been paid to spy on the family. The discovery he makes could have catastrophic consequences for them all.
A dysfunctional family, protectors of their power, wealth and each other, have no warning of the revelations about to erupt and the cost to their dynasty.
Looks good, eh? I’m so sorry I don’t have a review to share – but, with thanks to Joy, I do have an extract. The totally unscrupulous Odele Gardia, the matriarch of the family, operates ‘under the law’ – and, in this extract, she’s heading to see her sister-in-law, Freya, to try and mediate. Freya had chucked her brother out of the family home after he had admitted to a casual affair…
Odele was stuck at some temporary lights as she made her way to Freya’s. There hadn’t been any point in ringing Howard to accompany her, he was playing golf and wouldn’t be keen to be dragged away from that, not when he did his best deals as he put it, on the golf course. And she didn’t want to go over Seb’s stupidity with him on the phone, she’d rather do that at home over dinner. And, thinking about it, seeing Freya on her own was probably for the best. A female heart-to-heart might be better. She would take Howard though if Freya didn’t see sense. He was fond of her, and she him, they were a close-knit family. Her idiot brother would do well to remember that.
As the traffic light changed to green, she accelerated and continued to Windsor. On the console of her Mercedes, she pressed a number and waited for her man she relied upon to pick up. Tiny – the fixer. She didn’t have a surname, she didn’t need one. He was just Tiny, and whoever had given him that nickname had a sense of humour as he was a giant of a man. She never delved into personal questions about him, they were of no interest to her. She paid him cash to do the jobs she needed doing, which seemed to suit him. And that way, nothing could be traced back to her. Careful was her middle name – she thought through everything she ever did in detail and relied heavily on ‘what if’ to make decisions. That way, she was always prepared.
“Tiny. I’ve got a job for you.”
“I’m listening.”
“I want you to pay a visit to a Conrad Price,” she gave the address of the man she’d sacked earlier which she’d taken from his personnel file, “and give him a,” she paused, what did she want? “Give him a warning. Tell him it’s time for a career change. And make sure he gets the message loud and clear.”
“Roughing up?”
She took a breath in, “Scaring . . . whatever you usually do, and sooner rather than later.” Before he can do us any damage, she said to herself.
“Consider it done.”
“Good. Oh, and before you go, there was a man hanging about the business this morning, a vagrant. Though I’m not convinced he was. He’s cleared off now and hopefully won’t come back. If he turns up again, I’ll message you. I want to know who he is.”
“What does he look like?”
“Tall, thin, dark hair cut short.”
“That’s a third of the men in London.”
She blew out a breath. “Yes, but they aren’t all hanging about outside my business. You’ll need to follow him, and find out where he goes, what he does. A name would be good and anything you can get on him. He might not be back, but if he is, then he must have a reason.”
“Okay.” There was a pause while he cleared his throat, “These are the last jobs though at the current price.”
“What are you talking about?”
“My expenses have gone up.”
“Really.” Now wasn’t the time to negotiate with him.
“Yeah.”
“Well, get these jobs done at your current rate and we’ll talk about whether I actually have any more for you. Right now, I’m busy.”
“Long as you know, this is the last until we’ve spoken.”
“Ring me when you’re done. We’ll talk then.”
She cut the call. She’d sort him out later. He was paid more than enough for his discretion; she wasn’t going to be blackmailed. There were plenty of fixers around, she wasn’t going to be held to ransom by him, or anyone. As she stopped again at traffic lights, her thoughts returned to Conrad Price and the stupidity of the man threatening her when she fired him. She wasn’t entirely sure what methods Tiny would use to scare him – she just paid the money and never asked. In her mind she visualised thugs hanging him over a balcony by his legs like she’d seen in the movies, which would certainly scare the shit out of anyone. She grinned at the image in her mind. But the methods to achieve the outcome weren’t her concern. As long as he was hot-footing it into another profession, preferably away from London, the job was done. She couldn’t afford anyone to sabotage the business, least of all him.
About the author
Joy Wood has worked as a nurse most of her adult life and turned to writing to ‘see if she could.’ Her earlier work was adult romance and intrigue, but more recently she has switched genres to crime with a romance element which has paid off. In May of 2025, Joy was the fortunate recipient of the RNA award in the crime fiction category for her book Whatever It Takes. Joy lives in the small but charming seaside town of Cleethorpes in North East Lincolnshire and her writing ideas come from watching the tide turn daily, of course with the obligatory ice-cream – someone has to support the local economy!
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