Book Review: An Impossible Thing Called Love by Belinda Missen
A second chance at love…
When globe-trotting Emmy first fell for first-aider William on a freezing New Year’s Eve, she really believed that their love would go the distance.
But when she returns to Australia, her letters start to go unanswered and her emails bounce back unread, Emmy decides it’s time to pick up the pieces of her broken heart and start afresh in London.
So she’s shocked when William walks in on her very first day at her new job! Even worse, he’s hotter than ever. But why did he disappear for so long? What has he been hiding? And could this really be their second chance at falling in love…?
Emmy first meets William on New Years Eve. Even though she has to return home to Australia, she thinks what she and William have will go the distance even with the miles between them.
However, her letters and e-mails suddenly start going unanswered. Just like that, William is gone. Emmy is heartbroken.
She tries to start afresh in London. She’s succeeding until her path once again crosses with William.
Could this be their second chance at happiness?
I loved this book from beginning to end. I knew it was going to give me warm fuzzy feelings but also break my heart in places too.
I immediately fell in love with Emmy and William. They are both very likeable and their relationship feels realistic (even if it does move quite fast.)
The scene that is set with Edinburgh and London is incredible and pulled me into the story and it really sets the tone nicely for the whole novel.
When these two main characters lose touch, I felt as heartbroken as Emmy did. I did wonder if things were not as they seemed. That’s all I am going to say. I don’t want to give away the plot and events of the book too much as that would spoil it obviously.
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Book Extract: Thalidomide Kid by Kate Rigby
A big lovely hello to Kate Rigby and the blog tour for her novel, Thalidomide Kid.
Daryl Wainwright is the quirky youngest child of a large family of petty thieves and criminals who calls himself ‘Thalidomide Kid’.
Celia Burkett is the new girl at the local primary school, and the daughter of the deputy head at the local comprehensive where she is bound the following September. With few friends, Celia soon becomes fascinated by ‘the boy with no arms’.
The story of a blossoming romance and sexual awakening between a lonely girl and a disabled boy, and their struggle against adversity and prejudice as they pass from primary to secondary school in 1970s Cirencester. The story deals with themes and issues that are timeless.
Kate has shared an extract today. In this excerpt, the headmistress Miss Bond reveals to Celia’s family that Celia has been seen skiving lessons school with Daryl.
****** start of extract******
When they got to the pudding – fruit salad with lychees, continuing the Chinese theme – Celia fought back tears as she racked her brain.
Her dad spoke first. “Was that you, Celia?”
“Was that me what?”
“What Barbara was just saying?”
Celia looked blank, whereupon Miss Bond repeated her question with due emphasis. “I thought I saw you yesterday, Celia, walking down the Tetbury Road during school hours with the young Wainwright boy.”
Shit bricks! Miss Bond had seen them.
“I wasn’t feeling well.” She said the first thing that came into her head. “I … had … I had a stomach ache. Daryl said he’d walk with me as far as town and I had to sit down so we went to a coffee bar. I needed to drink something.”
Her father had a look of restrained incredulity. “You didn’t tell your teacher or think of reporting to the sick bay?”
She had no answer to this but to say: “I didn’t think. I just wanted to go home.”
“That doesn’t explain why the Wainwright boy wasn’t attending his lesson,” Dad said.
“A case of skivitis, I suspect,” said Miss Bond. “Though he shouldn’t really be treated any differently from anyone else who breaks school rules. That won’t do him any good at all.”
Celia wished they’d stop calling him the Wainwright boy. She wished they’d give him a chance instead of thinking the worst of him all the time, but the matter didn’t rest there. After Miss Bond had thanked them for a lovely evening and driven off in her Rover, her father’s smile evaporated, his face clouding over all serious.
“I mean, how d’you think it made me look,” he said, “hearing it second-hand from Barbara that my own daughter was absent from class?”
“It’s not fair. Other people don’t have to have the head telling their dads things. It’s like being spied on, isn’t it, Abby?”
But Abby was keeping out of it, collecting up the best glasses for Dad to wash, the best glasses being Dad’s department.
“Well, I want you to go upstairs immediately and write two letters of apology; firstly to the teacher whose class you missed and secondly to Barbara. Do I make myself clear?”
Mum started drying the glasses, dripping soap suds on the draining board as she picked them up. Then she said: “What were you doing with that boy anyway, Celia? We’d rather you didn’t keep that sort of company.”
by Book Review: Christmas Spirit by Nicola May
I am loving all the Christmas stories being released and I’m very excited to be part of the blog tour for Christmas Spirit, the novella from Nicola May.
It’s two days before Christmas – and Evie Harris finds herself both manless and jobless. After a chance encounter with handsome Greg (and egged on by her toy-boy-eating friend, Bea) she agrees to work at a homeless shelter on Christmas Day.
Striking up an unlikely friendship with homeless Yves, Evie begins an unwitting journey of spiritual awakening, all set against the sparkling winter backdrop of London landmarks.
A New Year’s Eve revelation is on its way . . . but will it leave Evie with a happy heart, or will she allow the pre-Christmas past to dictate her future?
Two days before Christmas, Evie has found herself without a job and without her boyfriend.
By chance, she meets Greg and ends up volunteering at a homeless shelter on Christmas Day.
This is also where she meets the mysterious Yves.
Evie embarks on a spiritual journey she doesn’t expect but could be the start of better things.
Oh my! This book.
From beginning to end this novella had me hooked. I don’t have anything bad to say about it. It’s not a long book but I devoured it very quickly because I did not want to stop reading.
Evie has many things happen to her. Still reeling from one thing something else quickly comes along. We’ve all had experience of that at one time or another.
Greg is a smashing love interest and the mysterious Yves adds some additional magic to this festive plot. Who is he? Where has he come from?
by Book Review: Christmas With The East End Angels by Rosie Hendry
It’s great to be welcoming Rosie Hendry to the blog today and the tour for her new novel, Christmas With The East End Angels.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year – and the East End Angels are working hard to keep Londoners safe.
Frankie is trying hard to keep everything together. She can count on the support of the East End Angels, even in the face of family trouble.
Winnie’s beloved husband, Mac, is putting himself at risk every day in the bomb disposal unit and she’s finding it hard while he’s away.
Bella is growing in confidence and happiness. Her friendship with Winnie’s brother, James, is getting closer all the time.
Christmas on the Home Front is a hard time with loved ones far away – but the women of the Auxiliary Ambulance service are making do and mending.
This is the latest in the East End Angels series and my introduction to Winnie, Frankie and Bella. This does work as a standalone novel. I didn’t feel like I was playing catch up at all. Rosie’s writing style has an ease to it that made me get fully involved very quickly.
The women are working at Station 75 during WWII. Even though the Blitz has abated, there is still a threat that something will happen especially as news from abroad seems to only get worse.
I could tell straight away that the three main characters had a close friendship – one that would survive many things and the kind that you want during a turbulent time. I loved the three of them together and in this novel, they are joined by Rose, originally from Austria (so you know from the offset that her story is going to be emotional and heartbreaking.)
It was nice reading about an element of war-time London that I was less familiar with. It’s inspirational seeing how these women rallied and did what they could to ‘keep calm and carry on.’
The atmosphere Rosie creates really pulled me in to the world of these women. Despite the fact that it’s a bleak time in Britain’s history, these characters bring hope warmth, love and laughter. For me, this book is very much about them. Each girl is facing their own personal battle. It just happens to be set in WWII which makes their efforts to keep going all the more poignant.
by Book Review: Winter Without You by Beth Good
It’s a pleasure to welcome Beth Good to Novel Kicks and the blog blast for her new novel, Winter Without You which has been released today by Quercus.
After the tragic death of her boyfriend, Hannah Clitheroe is hiding away from the world. But when she discovers she’s inherited a house in Cornwall, she knows it’s time to face reality.
Her estranged grandmother lived in Kernow House for years, but Hannah soon realises someone else thinks it’s rightfully theirs: Raphael Tregar, a difficult man who quickly gets under her skin.
But as winter sets in, there’s one more thing that keeps her up at night, and the rising fear that she may not find her true home in Cornwall after all…
Winter Without You focuses on Hannah. Having recently lost her boyfriend, Hannah has retreated to Cornwall where her Grandmother has left her a house in her will.
It’s not going to be as straightforward for Hannah though especially when she meets her unfriendly neighbour, Raphael.
This is a love story that is further enhanced by the setting and the people.
Hannah has had her share of tragedy. From the beginning, she is very easy to empathise with and like and therefore is a wonderful lead character. I sense that beneath all the sadness and grief, she has a strength, determination and most importantly, a sense of hope about her. I very much wanted her to succeed and felt invested in her story.
Raphael (I love that name) is brooding and mysterious. He is also at times very unpleasant but I certainly wanted to be wrong about him.
The setting in which her recently acquired inheritance sits sounds absolutely beautiful – somewhere I would like to visit.
by Book Club
