Book Review: Bring Me Sunshine by Laura Kemp

Bring Me Sunshine is the new novel from author, Laura Kemp and I am very pleased to be a part of the blog tour today. 

Charlotte Bold is nothing like her name – she is shy and timid and just wants a quiet life. When her job doing the traffic news on the radio in London is relocated to Sunshine FM in Mumbles, she jumps at the chance for a new start in Wales.

But when she arrives she discovers that she’s not there to do the travel news – she’s there to front the graveyard evening show. And she’s not sure she can do it.

Thrust into the limelight, she must find her voice and a way to cope. And soon she realises that she’s not the only person who finds life hard – out there her listeners are lonely too. And her show is the one keeping them going.

First off, I want to say that it’s always lovely when I get to welcome another Laura to Novel Kicks.

Words can not describe how much I love the cover of this book. It’s so pretty.

There is such an ease to this book that I immediately got pulled in. I had not read any of Laura’s previous novels but I am wondering where the hell I have been. This will soon be rectified.

The story was told from the point of view of three people and I found this an interesting way to get to know these well-developed characters.

Charlie has just moved to Mumbles to begin a new job. She is terrified to learn that it will be an on air role at Sunshine FM .

Delme, Del to his friends, at the beginning of the novel is working as the health and safety officer at the station.

Tina is the station’s office manager who has a few secrets of her own.

I fell in love with Charlie straight away. She isn’t just black and white. She is fighting battles relating to her past, her confidence and the lack of belief in herself – something I think we can all empathise with on some level. I wanted to jump in and just give her a hug. She felt like a friend.

I felt the same about Del. He is this loveable chap who seems sure of who he is but like Tina, not everything is as it seems.

As the plot moves along (and it does this at a great pace,) each character goes on their own version of attempted self discovery. All are battling something and are proof that you should never assess someone on first appearance. Everyone has something.

I very much cared about that happened to them. I felt these were characters I could cheer for.

Full of love and friendship, this novel has warmth, humour, bittersweet and outright lovely moments that made me feel all happy and fuzzy inside. It does tackle some serious themes (deceit, gas-lighting etc,) and it tackles these well.

The description of the town made me want to move there. I felt a lot of nostalgia actually. Not only did I grow up by the sea, I was in local radio when I was sixteen and it brought back a lot of memories.

Overall, I flipping loved this book. This would make a perfect novel for a trip to the beach, a holiday or even just chilling in the garden.

You’ve got yourself a fan, Laura.

About Laura: 

Laura Kemp writes tender but hilarious romantic comedies which are unashamed love letters to the everywoman.

Her uplifting message – based on the notion that everything is research apart from the rude bits – is ‘You Don’t Know How Brilliant You Are!’.

A journalist who has written for The Guardian, The Daily Mail and The Sun amongst others, she is married with a son.

She pretends to be a domestic revolutionary so she doesn’t have to do the ironing. Runs to eat crisps and drink wine, adores her mates and loves her dog, Lego and sweary cross-stitch.

Say hi on Twitter – https://twitter.com/Laurajanekemp

****Bring Me Sunshine was released in eBook by Orion in March 2019 with the paperback due to be available from 27th June 2019. Click to view on Amazon UK. I received a review copy in exchange for an honest review.***

by

Laura

I'm Laura. I started Novel Kicks back in 2009 as I wanted a place to discuss books and writing - two loves of my life. As someone who has anxiety, these two things give me, and I am sure countless others, a much needed escape.
There is a monthly book club, writing exercises, prompts, reviews, author interviews, competitions and guest posts. I cover many genres and I hope there is something for everyone.
I grew up by the sea in Dorset and currently live in Poole with my husband, Chris and three cats. I love writing and have a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing from Falmouth University. I am writing my first book. If only I could stop pressing delete. Chris has threatened to stop it from working. Haha.
I have always loved creative writing since I was in first school and would very much like to meet my teacher, Miss Sayers, to say thank you for all the encouragement she gave me then.
When not writing, I love reading, cats, Disney, singing (I can't sing but this doesn't stop me,) and falling into a good TV show or film. If I could step into any fictional world, it would be amongst the characters in ABC's Once Upon a Time.
I love reading many genres and discovering new authors.