Book Review: You Never See Rainbows at Christmas by Elaine Spires
Like a rhinestone Miss Havisham Eloise plans to spend Christmas alone, lying on the settee, crying her eyes out and listening to Dolly Parton’s Greatest Hits.
But a fall in the sleet two nights before Christmas lands her at the feet of rough sleeper Adam who is fighting his own demons.
Limping, cut and bruised, she has no alternative but to accept his offer of help. And instead of rejection and solitude there’s friendship and company and the festive season suddenly seems brighter. Eloise’s never seen a rainbow at Christmas… Until now.
Eloise plans to spend Christmas alone as she nurses a broken heart. However, a fall outside a corner shop results in her meeting Adam, a rough sleeper who, like Eloise, is fighting events in his past.
Before she knows it, she’s accepted his offer for help and friendship develops. Eloise has never seen a rainbow at Christmas… yet.
If you’ve followed this blog for a while, then you know I love a Christmas themed novel so I jumped at the chance to be included in the one day blog blitz for You Never See Rainbows at Christmas by Elaine Spires.
I have to mention this beautiful cover. It’s so pretty and it sets the tone for the story well.
There are two very complex and deep characters at the centre of this book, Eloise and Adam.
Both are fighting, trying to deal with aspects from their past and both running away from facing it. These events caused hurt, pain, grief and shame and I really felt for both these characters. I wondered what could have happened to Eloise and Adam prior to this point. Nothing is ever black and white.
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Book Review: Hector’s Perfect Cake by Lily Clarke
Hector is baking a cake for his Granny and he’s determined that it’s going to be perfect.
But when he discovers that the peanut butter jar is empty, Hector decides that he must head out to find some more, or else his perfect cake will be ruined.
As time begins to run out, Hector’s luck begins to run out too. He may have to accept that sometimes perfection just isn’t possible…
This book is so unbelievably adorable and from start to finish, it was wonderful.
The illustrations are so beautiful and they compliment the story so well. It’s obvious how much work Lily Clarke has put into this book.
Hector is trying to bake the perfect cake but this doesn’t go according to plan. This is a good analogy for life in general and it’s a clever and clear way to teach children that things don’t have to be perfect and that perfectionism is subjective.
It also shows them that things don’t always go according to plan and that’s OK. Just do your best and don’t worry – an important thing to remember for both children and adults in this social media driven culture.
by Audible Audiobook Review: The Road to Cromer Pier by Martin Gore
Janet’s first love arrives out of the blue after forty years. Those were simpler times for them both. Sunny childhood beach holidays, fish and chips and big copper pennies clunking into one armed bandits.
The Wells family has run the Cromer Pier Summertime Special Show for generations. But it’s now 2009 and the recession is biting hard. Owner Janet Wells and daughter Karen are facing an uncertain future. The show must go on, and Janet gambles on a fading talent show star. But both the star and the other cast members have their demons. This is a story of love, loyalty and luvvies. The road to Cromer Pier might be the end of their careers, or it might just be a new beginning.
I was excited to be invited onto the Audible review tour for The Road to Cromer Pier by Martin Gore.
The narrator is clear speaking and entertaining. Her welsh accent is particularly good. I enjoyed listening to the audiobook due to both Penny Scott-Andrews’s narration and Martin Gore’s story.
I’ve never been to Cromer but having grown up in a town with a pier, I could very easily picture the surroundings and setting. I love the feel of seaside towns and this novel captures the atmosphere of them perfectly. As I was listening, I was right there, by the sea. It brought back some lovely memories.
There is such a mixture of personalities in this novel and all of them seemed believable. There are quite a few of them introduced over the course of the book but they are pretty easy to keep up with.
by NK Chats To… M W Arnold
Hello Mick. I am so very pleased and proud to be welcoming you to Novel Kicks. What’s the experience been like so far compared to your first novel, ‘The Season for Love’?
Hi Laura, it’s wonderful to be back celebrating my second novel, I’m delighted to be here. It’s never easy to obtain a contract for a book, and for some reason, in my opinion, if it’s not already in place, obtaining that second one is always the most nerve-shredding. When the email offer came through for this one, it was like a weight lifting from my mind.
Can you tell me a little about your first historical saga, ‘A Wing and a Prayer’ and what inspired the story?
Because of ill health, I hadn’t been writing, I’d wanted to but it hadn’t been working. My author friends had all been encouraging me to try, so when a friend suggested I try something new rather than to pick up an unfinished project, it was like a serendipitous moment. I was watching a program on tv called, Spitfire Women, about the lady pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary in WW2. Before I was even aware I was doing it, I found myself scrolling around the internet and the beginning of a story idea reared its head. For this prod up the proverbial, I have two excellent authors and good friends to thank; best-selling romance author Sue Moorcroft and historical saga author par excellence, Elaine Everest. Also, after finding out so much about the brave women and men of the ATA, I wanted to write a kind of tribute to them. I hope I’ve done so.
What are the challenges of setting your novel in WWII?
Getting your facts right. Well, that’s only partially true, as in this day and age of the internet, you really shouldn’t be getting anything wrong, though it does happen. The other part, at least so far as I’m concerned, is making sure your characters behave and talk as they did back then. Compared to my romance, which was set in contemporary times, this was initially much harder to write until I got into the swing of it and now, it’s quite natural. Now I’m well into writing the third book in the series, writing as if my mind is back in the 1940’s seems natural. My main issue is, and will probably remain, writing in US English, as my publisher is based in the USA and prefers this. It still looks strange to me.
What’s your writing process like from first idea to final draft? Are there any challenges when writing a book series?
A lot of my ideas, when I first tried my hand at writing, came from listening to Radio. I’d hear a song and that would spark an idea. I still have a folder with about 20 idea for stories, some are brief outlines, a few lines, some are up to 6 or 7 pages, quite full of detail, a few even with a start, a middle and an end. I’d like think I can get back to some of those at some point. For this saga series, once the idea came, I was able to start writing pretty fast. I like to begin a story as soon as the idea hits me and as I’m more of a panster than a planster, I can get the first draft down pretty quickly, even taking into account that my first drafts are more akin to between a second and third draft, as I edit as I go along; each chapter has to read right before I can move on to the next one. I also keep each chapter as its own file, as I find it much easier to go to what I need to if, well, I need to.
So far as writing a series is concerned, this is my first series as ‘The Season for Love’ was a standalone romance, I’m kind of learning my own way as I go along. I’m sure everyone who writes a series has their own ways, so there may be an easier way than the one I’m using, but so far, it works for me. I like to, if it’s possible, to leave each chapter on a cliffhanger. That’s not possible with a series of books, so far as the end of the book is concerned. I’d like to, but each book has to be able to be read as a standalone too, so that’s out of the question. What I have to do is give the reader an enjoyable reading experience, whilst making them want to find out what the characters get up to next. It’s a nice feeling to know that I’ll be coming back to these characters again too.
You are a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association Do you feel that the RNA New Writers’ Scheme is worth joining if you’re wanting to start writing a novel?
My route to publication was through this esteemed scheme so, yes, very much so. I know so many authors who became published by joining the NWS scheme of the Romantic Novelists Association. It’s one of the hardest things to accomplish, having a book published and the support which this scheme provides is invaluable. I would recommend it to anyone who wishes to become an author.
What’s your favourite word and why?
by Book Extract: Trials and Tribulations of a Pet Sitter by Laura Marchant
I am very happy to be welcoming Laura Marchant to Novel Kicks today and the blog tour for her book, Trials and Tribulations of a Pet Sitter
Hilarious and heart warming true stories of a Pet Sitter.
Laura takes us on her journey describing the immense joy that the animals have brought into 
her life. But it’s not all fun and games. With sometimes as many as ten dogs around her home, things can get a tad hectic. Not to forget the every day challenges faced in keeping the pets happy and safe when out walking. Luckily she is not alone in her quest; her unusually dominant Golden Retriever ‘Brece’ is always by her side. Brece earns her keep by convincingly playing the part of the alpha female, ensuring harmony amongst the pack.
At times, the responsibility that Laura faces becomes overwhelming. She may think she has everything covered but that hand of fate could quite easily swoop down, creating havoc for her and the dogs. Laura has endured many close calls and teetered on the precipice of disaster may a time. The longer she continues with her pet sitting enterprise, the more likely hood that total disaster will actually strike. Is she tempting fate?
Laura Marchant is the Bridget Jones of the pet sitting world!
Laura has shared an extract from her book today so find that comfy seat, grab that cup of tea, and enjoy.
***** beginning of extract*****
This is an extract from a third of the way into the book. Here I start to write about ‘the gang’, a selection of my daily regulars that I walk. I pick 5 dogs to talk about in detail. (some of whom are pictured on the front page). This section is about Rocky, a young, crazy out of control English Pointer, but never the less, a dog that I love.
Picking up Rocky was an arduous task and that was just the prelude to the walk. Putting the leash on him did not abate his excitement, in fact, it exacerbated it, as he knew he was one step closer to his walk and freedom. Once trussed up we made our way to the front door. Trying to lock it behind me whilst keeping hold of the uncontrollable animal was an incredibly difficult task, but with gritted determination, I just about managed it. Outside the house, door successfully locked he then hoicked me all the way down the drive to where his chariot awaited. He pulled with such force that I literally thought that my arms would be wrenched out of their sockets. It took every ounce of strength in my body to hang onto that dog. If he managed to escape from his lead, it was a given that he would run onto the busy road, that would be it, we were dicing with death.
By now I had managed to get him leashed, out of the house, locked the door, before being whisked all the way down the driveway. God! I must have been completely mad in those early days. All I had to do now was get him in the boot of the car; this part was a breeze. He was more than happy to jump into the dog-mobile, he knew next stop was the beach. Whilst I sat in the driver’s seat I usually took a couple of minutes to compose myself. After checking out my new cuts, bruises and jarred joints I was ready to drive off to our destination. It was always a stressful journey. Having Rocky in the boot of my car was like having a wild Gazelle travelling with us. He remained on his perpetual trampoline but added a touch of strident hollering and squealing to help us along on our way. Once finally at our destination, the beast was unleashed. This was what he had been waiting for: now his fun could begin.
Hurling himself out of the boot, he charged off to do his own thing. There was no way I could keep him on the lead, anything I did to try to hang on to him was ineffectual, as was berating him. With no choice in the matter, I just had to let him go and wait with the other dogs by the sea wall while he charged around.
by Book Club
