Book Review: The Paris Bookshop for the Broken-Hearted by Rebecca Raisin
I’m so excited to be welcoming Rebecca Raisin back to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her latest book, The Paris Bookshop for the Broken-Hearted.
Can you ever swear off love, in the city of love?
Coco is having a hell of a month. She’s lost her boyfriend and her business, been forced to uproot her daughter to move back in with her parents in Paris, and now an infuriatingly handsome stranger is yelling at her for acting like a tourist… Right underneath the Eiffel Tower.
Storming away from him – and swearing off men for life – she decides she’s going to take the first job that comes her way.
Then, as if fate hears her, later that day she stumbles into a little bookshop – but not any old bookshop. This one comes complete with a café, cocktail bar, reading room and secret tunnel of books, and just a little hint of magic in the air. So when Coco’s offered a job selling books there, it feels like the perfect fit.
There’s only one problem… propping up the bar in the bookshop is none other than the grumpy, gorgeous stranger she’d met earlier that day…
A totally romantic, bookish and gorgeously escapist romantic novel, set in Paris in Springtime. Perfect for fans of Emily Henry, Abby Jimenez, and Sarah Morgan.
*****
With both her business and love life in tatters, Coco finds herself needing to return to her home town of Paris. Her daughter, Eloise is not happy about it either but Coco hopes that, once they’ve settled in, things will begin to improve. Or will it?
I am such a fan of Rebecca Raisin and so jumped at the chance to be on the blog tour for her latest novel, The Paris Bookshop for the Broken-Hearted. The premise intrigued me and I couldn’t wait to get started.
For me, bookshops hold a magic power and so the idea of the Paris Bookshop for the Broken-Hearted is one I love. I want to go there.
by 
Book Review: Raven: Defier of Rome by Adam Lofthouse
I’m delighted to be welcoming Adam Lofthouse to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for his book, Raven: Defier of Rome, book one in the Enemy of the Empire series.
Chief Killer. Battle Turner. Oathbreaker.
Alaric is an enemy of Rome.
144 AD. Alaric Hengistson, leader of the Ravensworn, revels in his many fear-fuelled names whispered in the hearth flames. Cunning in battle, a ruthless war lord. He sleeps sound in the knowledge that he has been chosen by the Gods for a higher purpose – to rise up against the tyranny of an Empire.
For years he has thwarted Rome’s attempts to gain control over the land that has long resisted them. His land. Germania. However the rules are changing, and new deals are struck between the conquering Roman legions and the feuding Germanic tribes. Deals that could prove Alaric’s downfall.
As the eagles march with the wolves, together hunting the Raven, Alaric must prove his legend or watch his Ravensworn burn in flames.
*****
Raven: Defier of Rome is the first book in the Enemy of the Empire serise and the first book I have read by Adam Lofthouse
by NK Chats To: Susan Buchanan (Plus A Chance To Win A Copy Of The Leap Year Proposal)
Hello Susan. Thank you so much for joining me again and inviting Novel Kicks onto your blog tour. Can you tell me about your latest book, The Leap Year Proposal and what inspired it?
Sure, thanks for having me again. Well, The Leap Year Proposal is the story of three women who meet at a mutual friend’s hen weekend and when the karaoke has abated and they’re all doing a quiz from a women’s magazine, the subject of leap year proposals comes up.
That prompts a would you/wouldn’t you discussion and the upshot is that the three protagonists, who happen to be sitting next to each other during the quiz, despite not knowing each other, get involved in a bit of a debate about it, with one professing she’d already made up her mind to propose.
The women’s friendship develops once they return from the Isle of Arran to the mainland as ‘the proposer’ starts making plans for how to propose, along with her sidekicks. And as for the inspiration, well, I proposed, quite unexpectedly, to my (now) husband on 29 February 2016! Our story has no bearing on this one, but it did give me the idea for the book!
I thought it would be fun to suggest a writing prompt – are you able to give us a starting line?
You’re out walking in the countryside and are confronted by a bear. What would you do and why? Sorry, that is the first thing that popped into my head!
Which fictional place would you like to visit and why?
I think it has to be Hogwarts! I’m a big Harry Potter fan.
Which book (that’s not one of yours,) would you like to forget just so you could read and rediscover it again?
by Book Review: The One Before the One by Emma Cooper
I’m so happy to be welcoming Emma Cooper t0 Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her novel, The One Before the One.
Liv is given the chance to live one life-changing week over, but can she change her future…? And does she want to? A gorgeous, uplifting novel, perfect for fans of Shari Low, Paige Toon and Beth Moran.
When Liv’s boyfriend Kit disappeared on a hike, seven years earlier, she thought her life was over. But with the help of their family and friends, she’s pushed her way through the grief, and now, miraculously, she’s found a way to love again.
Until the morning of her wedding, when Liv steps through a doorway, and finds herself, somehow, back at the flat she shared with Kit: seven years earlier, six days before he left. Now, Liv has a chance to live those six days over, and change everything. If she gets this right, she can find out why Kit leaves and stop him.
But can she save him? And if she does, how will she choose, between the man she loved then, and the one she loves now?
*****
Olivia is about to marry James.
However the death of her previous boyfriend still hangs over them – the death of Kit… James’s brother.
When the morning of the wedding arrives, something happens that has the potential to change all their lives forever.
I am so excited to be on the blog tour for this novel and wanted to take the opportunity to wish Emma Cooper a happy publication day.
by NK Chats To…Kiley Dunbar
Hi Kiley, thank you so much for joining me today. Can you tell us about your latest novel, A New Chapter at the Borrow a Bookshop (loving this title) and what inspired it?
A New Chapter at the Borrow a Bookshop is number 5 in the series and dare I say it, possibly the last? I wanted to do the series justice and end on huge high. I chose my favourite romance trope ‘Friends to Lovers’ for this one and had a blast writing all the attraction and withholding; masses of fun for an author!
What’s your typical writing day like? Do you have any writing rituals like needing coffee a lot, writing in a favourite spot? Writing in silence?
I’ve got into a new routine recently of writing 1000-1400 words in a session, and I tend to go to a café in town where I’ll sit with my coffee and my headphones and type away happily. If I try to write at home I get distracted by all the jobs there is to do there.
From idea to finished draft, how long does it take you to write a novel, and how do you know when you’ve done enough research and editing?
It can take me a couple of years to go from pitch to published, but once I’ve got a contract signed, it takes me about 4 or 5 months to fully plan out and write the first draft. I’ll give that draft a quick read through and a tidy before sending it to my editor. I tend to write about things I know a little bit about then do some scant research, enough to sound like I’m a pair of safe hands. Then I get structural edits sent back to me which can take a few weeks to action, then there’s another round of edits (line edits – looking for wee fiddly things to fix), then I am sent the proofs to read (and even at that stage I make little tweaks).
What themes are explored in this novel and what’s the main thing you want readers to take away from it?
by Book Club
