Book Review: The Impossible Search For The Perfect Man by Debbie Howells
Please join me in welcoming Debbie Howells to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her novel, The Impossible Search For The Perfect Man.
Imagine for a moment, your husband leaves you. Then through a bizarre twist of events, you find yourself working with the girl he’s left you for – and even worse, she’s pregnant…
Louisa’s not really up to any more complicated relationships. Right now, she doesn’t need them. She has good friends. Okay, so one has a screwed-up husband and the other a very strange horoscope habit. Not to mention her ex-husband’s new girlfriend, who Louisa has somehow found herself giving relationship counselling to. She doesn’t need anyone else with problems in her life right now.
It would be nice, wouldn’t it? To find a straightforward man, who isn’t remotely messed up. Now there’s a thought… But does such a man even exist?
She thinks not. But, she resolves, a life of helping other people find their happy-ever-afters is still something. But then handsome vet Marcus walks into her life. And everything changes…
Set in the Hampshire countryside against a background of horses and vets, this is a story about friendship and love, and life’s way of throwing in the unexpected…
*****
Louisa’s life is about to be turned upside down. Not only has her husband left her for his pregnant mistress, but she also ends up having to work with her ex’s new girlfriend. Can Louisa navigate her new single life when her old one continues to slap her in the face?
This is the first novel I’ve read by Debbie Howells. I was delighted to be invited onto the blog tour for The Impossible Search For The Perfect Man.
Poor Louisa. She is put through the ringer a little at the beginning of this novel. I really wanted to give Arian a piece of my mind. Even as this happens however, I feel there is a strength to Louisa that she doesn’t realise she has. I loved seeing how her character developed over the novel.
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Book Review: New York Miracle by Margo Laurie
Please join me in welcoming Margo Laurie to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her novella, New York Miracle.
A sweet, Christmas ghost story with a dash of romance
Ellie Peach travels to Manhattan for a fan-making apprenticeship.
While staying at a historic boarding house, she meets the charming James Denny. He claims to be a Broadway actor waiting for his lost love. When Ellie offers to help search for her, it leads to old secrets and adventure…
*****
When Ellie Peach arrives in Manhattan to begin an internship with her Great-Aunt, she can’t help but marvel at the amazing city she has idolized and can’t wait to get to know her American relatives. She arrives at her boarding house, St Teresa’s Lodge with optimism. Then she meets James, and her visit takes an unexpected turn.
The premise for this novel intrigued me greatly and I knew it was going to be a unique read. I was delighted therefore to be invited onto the blog tour for New York Miracle.
First, how beautiful is this cover! I love it. It has a whimsical, 1930’s feeling to it, which, when you come to read the novella, which I hope you do, will make a lot more sense.
New York is also one of my favourite places and where I went on my own December honeymoon so to be able to revisit it around Christmas time, even if it was only in a novel was magical to me.
by Book Review: My Fake Italian Marriage by Romy Sommer
I’m pleased to be welcoming Romy Sommer to Novel Kicks and wish her a happy publication day for My Fake Italian Marriage.
Cleo Arendse: You know how almost every movie set in Italy seems to be about a woman who travels to Tuscany and is swept off her feet by a charming, gorgeous but arrogant aristocrat? Well, that’s not this story.
Luca Fioravanti:
Challenge accepted.
British Banker Cleo Arendse is nothing like the women lawyer Luca Fioravanti is used to – both because she’s only in Tuscany to oversee his family vineyard’s business and because she’s impervious to the charm that has never failed him before now.
But Luca has never shied from a challenge, and when circumstances arise that allow him to step in as Cleo’s knight in shining armour, he leaps…right into a fake marriage! The romance may be a ruse but the passion burning between Luca and Cleo is very, very real, and as the ‘honeymoon’ glow envelops the pair, all bets are off…
*****
Cleo doesn’t buy into the romantic notion of going to Italy, being swept off her feet by a gorgeous man and living happily ever after. Enter Luca – the handsome, Italian who is known to be a bit of a ladies’ man.
Cleo wants to focus on the task at hand, saving Luca’s family vineyard. However, when a lie of being married gets out of hand, the couple must deal with more than they bargained for.
This is the first novel I’ve read by Romy Sommer, and I was grateful to be invited onto the blog tour for her latest novel, My Fake Italian Marriage.
Although this is a standalone novel, it does allude to a previous story, Last of the Summer Vines, featuring characters that also appear in this latest novel.
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: A Moment With… Monica Cafferky
Monica Cafferky is joining us with the blog tour for her novel, A Winter’s Sleep. She has made a living with words for over 30 years, first as a journalist and more recently with her supernatural thriller The Winter’s Sleep. Here, Monica shares her tips for making a start on your own novel – “stop thinking about it, just start writing.”
Tip 1: You need to read.
Before you put fingers to keyboard, or pen to paper, you need to know your genre. Read the kind of books you want to write.
If you love spooky stories, it’s Halloween after all, read the classics like Dracula by Bram Stoker and The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. Or, opt for more contemporary novels such as Thin Air by Michelle Paver or my own The Winter’s Sleep.
Or do you prefer historical fiction? Fill your boots with tales from writers Philippa Gregory and Elizabeth Chadwick. If romance is your first love go for Sarah MacLean.
What’s important is that you READ. By reading, you will discover how to structure a story in your genre, how to construct a good plot, develop characters and layer in myth. Without these important elements there is no compelling story.
Tip 2: Start writing notes to yourself.
As the story starts to take shape in your mind you will have brilliant (I hope) insights, often when you least expect it – washing up, walking the dog, in the bath. It’s important not to lose these snippets of plot and character. You need to make a note of your ideas because, trust me, you won’t remember them later on.
Ideas are funny things, unless they’re fully formed, and repeated often, they slip away like a balloon in a strong breeze. Write these ideas down in your journal (that you use just for the novel) or create an audio note on your mobile, and then write it down later.
Let the foundation of the book take shape with these ideas, and collect these ideas together. You need to know what your book is about before you start the actual writing, otherwise you will find your story, and your sanity, unravelling around a quarter of the way through the plot.
Tip 3: What’s your character’s quest?
by Book Review: Never Ever Getting Back Together by Phoebe MacLeod
Please join me in welcoming Phoebe MacLeod to Novel Kicks. She’s here with the blog tour for her novel, Never Ever Getting Back Together.
Everyone remembers their first love. Jess Thomas definitely does. So, it’s more than a little awkward when Jess’s first love, Jamie Ferguson, turns out to be the best man at the wedding she’s catering for. And more than a little insulting when he doesn’t appear to remember her at all.
Since Jamie broke her heart (via text!), 10 years earlier, Jess has sworn off romance. And with a booming catering business to focus on, she’s doing OK. She has no interest in revisiting the past.
But when Jess’s car breaks down on a country lane, she has no choice but to accept Jamie’s help. Now, Jamie is determined to show Jess he’s a new man. But can guys like Jamie ever really change? And if she gives him another chance, is she setting herself up for a fall?
*****
Jess is a successful businesswoman and hasn’t got time for love, especially when the man she had a crush on and who broke her heart comes back into her life.
However, fate has a way of intervening. Can Jamie prove he has changed?
Just the title alone made me want to read this novel. Yes, I am a Swiftie and I’m not ashamed to admit it. I was pleased to be invited onto the blog tour for Never Ever Getting Back Together (the song is going around in my head.)
This is the first book I’ve read by Phoebe MacLeod but it certainly won’t be the last.
by Book Club
