Gretel in The Dark by Eliza Granville.
The mysterious fairytale based novel set across two different centuries.
Hamish Hamilton, Feb 2014.
Gretel in the Dark focuses on two time zones – 1899 in Vienna with Dr Josef Breuer and then years later in Germany around World War II which is where we are introduced to Krysta.
Dr Breuer has a new patient who brings mystery. Found in the middle of the night and brought to his home, the girl has no name and claims to not even be human and that she is there to kill the monster.
Krysta is a young girl who is sheltered by her father, (he works in the infirmary with the ‘animal people.’) She spends her days listening to the fairy stories made up by Greet, the house servant. Tragedy then strikes and Krysta is forced into a concentration camp.
The idea of this book intrigued me from the moment I read the synopsis and when I started reading, I couldn’t stop or put it down (even when I was meant to be sleeping before a night shift.) Continue reading
by 
Undreamed by Paul Western-Pittard
Published by Paul Western-Pittard -Sept 2012)
Review by Helen Jackson.
Undreamed is a dark psychological thriller that tells the tale of Alice, a woman trapped between reality and a dream.
Alice is trapped in a nightmare. She leads two lives, both real to her, both flawless in their logic and texture, both filled with people that she loves and hates. One of these is a dream. She has no way of knowing which. A borderline junkie-heiress in Manhattan, or a recovering psych patient in Sydney, when Alice sleeps in one life, she wakes into the other.
Other than her own memory of them, her worlds are separate and seamless. In both her lives she tries to find clues to discover the root of her sickness, but nothing crosses over. She may as well be two completely different people. Caught in this impossible status quo, never able to bring herself to believe that the life she’s leading is true, Alice is trapped. Not believing either, she believes nothing. Then one day, her lives are fractured when something does cross over. First in Sydney then Manhattan, Alice meets a girl dressed in green. She knows this girl for what she is: the key to her escape. But as she unravels the girl’s secret, the realities of not one but both lives are challenged.
The question becomes: who is it that she’s really waking?
by Book Review: Diary of An Unsmug Married by Polly James
Diary of an Unsmug Married by Polly James is published by Avon (February 2014,) and is available in paperback and e-book.
The blurb:
What happens to love when life gets in the way?
Meet Molly Bennett. Married to Max and mother to two warring teenagers, she’s just ‘celebrated’ a significant birthday. Bridget Jones would call Molly a “smug married”. So why doesn’t she feel it? Is it because everyone seems to be having a better time of it than her? Or is it that Max has started showing more interest in ‘business trips’ and less interest in their sex life? Molly begins to despair. And then an old school friend starts flirting with her through Facebook …
I had not read the fictional columns on which this book is based so I had no idea what to expect (however, I am a huge fan of Adrian Mole and Bridget Jones. This book has been compared to both.)
Molly is what Bridget would describe as a smug married. She has a job working for a back bench labour MP called Andrew (who she calls the boss.) He’s a little bit of a liability to her and Greg (a colleague.) She has a mother who has a Continue reading
by Calling Mrs Christmas
Review by Mick Arnold.
‘Calling Mrs Christmas’ is that rare breed of seasonal tale, in that behind the story of someone finding their calling to help them over a personal crisis (unemployment here) there are some serious social issues dealt with here that from a lesser author could have easily taken a lowly second place. Of course, this doesn’t detract from the main storyline as we follow Cassie through a Christmas certainly never to be forgotten, such is the skill of this author.
The story centres around Cassie, at the start deep in the depression caused by unemployment. She’s in a long-term relationship with the stoic Jim, a caring warder at the local Youth Detention Centre. Deciding to put her organisational talents to use, she starts up a business – the title of the book. As the business booms, from wrapping presents and decorating trees, to arranging corporate parties, life starts to look good for her again and the two of them have never been happier. Enter a rich client called Carter, Continue reading
by It Felt Like a Kiss by Sarra Manning – Blog Tour: Laura reviews It Felt Like a Kiss
Published by Corgi, Jan 2014
It Felt Like A Kiss by Sarra Manning.
Ellie is living her dream and thinks she has everything pretty much together. She has a job that she loves, great mates, a loving family and a great boyfriend, Richey. The only bad point is the rockstar Dad who refuses to acknowledge her existence.
However, when her friends stage a relationship intervention, saying they saw Richey doing something he shouldn’t, Ellie goes into denial until she sees it for herself.
She breaks up with him not realizing he will carry out revenge in a horrible way. He steals a box containing Ellie’s biggest secret and before long, the British press is camped on her doorstep, painting her as a fame hunter, obsessed with getting herself in the paper and using the fact that Billy Kay is her father to do it.
David Gold, Kay’s lawyer is assigned to look after the problem… and Ellie.
David doesn’t trust Ellie and to begin with, Ellie doesn’t care much for him either so falling in love is the last thing on their minds – especially as Ellie’s life is falling apart around her.
I loved Ellie. She’s essentially a good person who wants to do right by all around her, although that does sometimes mean she is swept along with other people’s ideas. She loves her job and has great mates (Lola and Tess were hysterical in places,) and I did feel so sorry for her when everything began to go wrong and the more that goes wrong, the more she looses control. David Gold does sound like a scrummy hero and definitely someone I would want on my side if I needed a lawyer (he was endearing even though I did want to slap him across the face for some of his behavior towards Ellie.)
The book is quite long and when I started, I did worry I was going to find some of it hard going to read because of the length (which I have found with some books of late,) but the plot had me turning the page, desperate to find out what was going to happen next and whether Ellie would finally get to come face to face with the man who abandoned her when she was a child. This book, at one point, had me shouting ‘you go girl,’ out loud. I cheered, felt badly for Ellie when she was finding it difficult and I wanted her to have a happy ending.
I was actually a little disappointed when I finished this book because it ended and did miss Ellie and David for a while after. This book was great and I recommend it – especially if you want to curl up with tea and a book or are escaping to where the sun is and want a holiday read.
It Felt Like A Kiss by Sarra Manning is out now published by Corgi, £6.99
by The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
Penguin, 2014
Somethings in life are unexpected….
Don Tillman likes routine and he has pretty much accepted the fact that he’s not going to be in a relationship. That is until he stumbles on the idea for the Wife Project. Using a series of questions, he is sure that he will be able to find himself the ideal woman. Then we meet Rosie. She is not who he had in mind at all. She smokes, is never on time and is not at all acceptable to the Wife Project criteria but little by little, Rosie and Don become friends and he becomes aware of a life he could have – a life that he previously thought was for everyone else.
I loved Don. He’s a very endearing character. Told in the first person narrative, his voice took me a few pages to get used to as he is very matter of fact Continue reading
by The Bookshop Strikes Back by Ann Patchett
Bloomsbury Paperbacks, August 2013.
A sweet little book that shows us the value of a book shop.
Ann Patchett is the author of six novels and three works of non-fiction. She was very unhappy when she realised that there were no longer any more bookshops in her home town of Nashville, Tennessee. When she released her next novel after the last shop closed, she realised that the only place she could sell her book in her home town was in the local Framing shop. She met her business partner, Karen Hayes and Parnassus Books is now a thriving independent bookshop. This book chronicles the idea and eventual opening of the shop.
This book is only about twenty pages long but it was such a great thing to read. I will admit, I do have a kindle but I love going into book shops, browsing the shelves, picking up the book and flicking through – something you can’t do when buying a e-book or buying online.
In the current economy, Continue reading
by The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan
An interesting look at relationships and the attitude toward that diamond ring.
1947: Mary Frances Gerety, a young copywriter in an eminent advertising agency, has to convince the world of two things – that marriage means a diamond ring on every woman’s finger, and that she is as good at her job as any man. And then, in one moment of brilliant inspiration, Mary Frances writes down four words which will achieve both her aims . . .Moving from a Harvard swim-meet in 1927 to the three-martini lunches of 1940s advertising, from the back streets of 1980s Boston to an exquisite Parisian music shop in 2003, The Engagements is a novel about love, marriage, commitment and betrayal; it is as sharp, as fiery and as beautiful as the stone we have taken to represent our dreams.
The Engagements focuses on five different decades and five apparently unconnected people who are all at varying stages of their relationships. Continue reading
by Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Review by Helen Jackson.
Errand requiring immediate attention. Come.
The note was on vellum, pierced by the talons of the almost-crow that delivered it. Karou read the message. ‘He never says please’, she sighed, but she gathered up her things. When Brimstone called, she always came. In general, Karou has managed to keep her two lives in balance. On the one hand, she’s a seventeen-year-old art student in Prague; on the other, errand-girl to a monstrous creature who is the closest thing she has to family. Raised half in our world, half in ‘Elsewhere’, she has never understood Brimstone’s dark work – buying teeth from hunters and murderers – nor how she came into his keeping. She is a secret even to herself, plagued by the sensation that she isn’t whole. Now the doors to Elsewhere are closing, and Karou must choose between the safety of her human life and the dangers of a war-ravaged world that may hold the answers she has always sought. (Daughter of Smoke and Bone is published by Hodder Paperbacks, July 2012.)
This is my book club January book.
When we were discussing books in December, I complained that there hasn’t been a really good book for a while, and that The Night Circus was still my favourite ever. The person who chose the book (or the selection of books, which we then vote on) Continue reading
by Wish Upon A Star by Trisha Ashley
Book review by Mick Arnold.
(Wish Upon a Star published by Avon, November 2013.)
Forced to move back in with her eccentric mother, Cally has to juggle caring for her sick daughter Stella and doesn’t believe that she has time in her life for love as well. That is until handsome baker Jago comes into their lives. Trying to juggle fund-raising for an operation to potentially save her daughter’s life that is rapidly approaching in the USA just before Christmas, Cally tries to stop her growing feelings for Jago from taking over her every waking moment.
This is a heart-warming tale of love and hope Continue reading
by How To Look Like You by Rose McClelland
How To Look Like You
Book review by Helen Jackson.
Have you ever had a frenemy? Someone you smile at sweetly but secretly you are filled with jealousy? Meet Chloe and Ella.
While Chloe sees herself as dowdy, quiet and going nowhere, Ella is brimming with talents: acting, singing, and outward-sitting, bronzed boobs.
Yet, Ella envies Chloe’s steady relationship with Aidan, her stick-thin figure and her perfectly poised style. As a result, Ella feels overweight, over-single and over-the-hill.
As Ella begins to work alongside Aidan, she develops feelings she shouldn’t have. When he invites her to join his band, it’s no surprise Chloe reacts by slamming the door off the handle.
Then Chloe begins a strategy of her own: Operation Simon. If she starts to go out more often with the bloke from work, surely Aidan would take notice?
Will Aidan smell Simon’s advances? Will Chloe and Aidan’s shared plans go ahead?
Will Ella become a friend or an enemy?
Find out How To Look Like YOU.
The saying goes, don’t judge a book by its cover. When it comes to fiction though, that’s exactly what I do. If I don’t like the cover, there’s very little chance I’ll pick it up or read it, but if I like the cover, it’s possible I’ll pick it up to read, before even reading the blurb. Which is why I’m Kindle’s dream target.
by Book Corner: January 2014.
Here’s Looking At You by Mhairi Mcfarlane (published by Avon, December 2013.) – our book club title for January.
About the book:
Anna Alessi – history expert, possessor of a lot of hair and an occasionally filthy mouth – seeks nice man for intelligent conversation and Mills & Boon moments.
Despite the oddballs that keep turning up on her dates, Anna couldn’t be happier. As a 30-something with a job she loves, life has turned out better than she dared dream. However, things weren’t always this way, and her years spent as the ‘Italian Galleon’ of an East London comprehensive are ones she’d rather forget.
So when James Fraser – the architect of Anna’s final humiliation at school – walks back into her life, her world is turned upside down. But James seems a changed man. Polite. Mature. Funny, even. People can change, right? So why does Anna feel like she’s a fool to trust him?
Discuss Here’s Looking At You… Continue reading
by Book Review: A Cinderella Christmas
A Cinderella Christmas by Holly Kingston. Released by Novelicious Books, November 2013.
Lucy Tilley dreams of a career in show business. But this isn’t quite what she had in mind …
This year’s Cinderella pantomime is the hottest production in town. What’s more, Lucy is starring alongside Ryan Aspall: famous TV actor, sex symbol and potential love of her entire life. One teeny problem – Lucy is tripping the light fantastic as … the back-end of the comedy cow. Surely nothing kills a flirty moment quite like wearing a massive set of udders?
At least she has the support of glamorous (if potentially flammable) Charmaine; a reality star diva of a Cinderella, who Lucy is completely fascinated by. But behind the fame and beauty, Charmaine is not all she seems.
With more drama off the stage than on it, and everyone
wanting to be star of the show, will Lucy find the confidence to make it out of the cow suit and into the spotlight this Christmas?
A Cinderella Christmas is the new novella from Holly Kingston. Set during a pantomime in Manchester just before Christmas, this was a warming, lovely story that had me laughing out loud in many places. Lucy is such a likeable, relatable character. Charmaine, Ben, Ryan and Bridget are great supporting characters. This story flowed so well and I wish it was longer. This book has well and truly put me in the festive mood and will be great for snuggling up on the sofa with a glass of wine and the Christmas tree lights on. Romance and Christmas… I loved this book.
by Dead Gone by Luca Veste
Dead Gone by Luca Veste, published by Avon, December 2013.
A serial killer is stalking the streets of Liverpool, gruesomely murdering victims as part of a series of infamous unethical and deadly psychological experiments.
When it becomes apparent that each victim has ties to the City of Liverpool University, DI David Murphy and DS Laura Rossi realise they’re chasing a killer unlike any they’ve hunted before – one who doesn’t just want his victims’ bodies, but wants their minds too.
I read a lot of this book when I should have been doing other things (including sleep.) I was hooked from the very first page. I do like a good mystery and this book does that very well. Right until the last few pages, Continue reading
by Book Review: Solomon’s Tale by Sheila Jeffries
Solomon’s Tale by Sheila Jeffries. Published by Avon, November 2013.
Solomon’s Tale tells the story from the point of view of Solomon, a cat who is reincarnated back down to earth by an angel to take care of his previous owner. When he reaches Ellen, he finds that she is facing abuse and homelessness.
He enters Ellen’s home and soon becomes the family’s healer and protector and although facing many challenges, tries to save the family.
Solomon was the writer’s own cat but the story, Continue reading
by The Manhattan Puzzle by Laurence O’ Bryan
Chris reviews The Manhattan Puzzle by Laurence O’ Bryan (published by Avon, October 2013.)
The story follows Isabel Ryan in her attempt to find and free her husband, Sean Ryan, who has been framed for murder by the top American Bank he works for so as to cover up some very mysterious goings on. Isabel’s journey to solve the puzzle Ryan was working on will take her from her home in London to caverns under Manhattan Island.
I enjoyed the book. Although there are two books which precede this one, The Istanbul Puzzle and The Jerusalem Puzzle, it isn’t necessary for the reader to have read them to understand this book. There are references to things from the other books but they are explained within their required context, allowing the book to sit on its own. Similar in style to Dan Brown, Laurence O’Brian writes a well paced story which keeps drawing you on with its short chapters and regular cliffhangers, maintaining the readers interest while not bogging them down with unnecessary subplots.
by The Knot by Mark Watson
The Knot by Mark Watson.
(Published by Simon & Schuster, June 2013.)
The Knot is told from the perspective of Dominic Kitchen. He’s a middle-aged wedding photographer and the book is his memoirs. It looks mostly at his relationships mainly with his wife, daughter and his older sister.
I’ve not finished a book in a while with so many mixed feelings. I liked the style in which it was written. It gave it an immediate feel and being told solely from Dominic’s point of view allowed me to stay focused on him as a character.
In the story, Continue reading
by Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett
Rising Steam by Terry Pratchett published by Doubleday, November 2013.
I have long been a great fan of the writings of Terry Pratchett, not just his Discworld works but everything he has done.
His latest offering, Rising Steam rose to the occasion and is a thumping good read. Steam is coming to Ankh-Morpork, much to the dismay of the Patrician, and this wonderful new invention will change the lives of everyone it touches.
The book follows the opening days of the steam engine, from one man’s shed in a small village, to a race against politics across the plains and into Uberwald.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and read it in just over a day. It was un-putdownable. It is wonderful to see the evolution of Discworld continuing and I really like the ‘cameo’ appearances from many of the characters whom I have come to love from other books in the series. Continue reading
by Step Back in Time by Ali McNamara
Published by Sphere, November 2013
In 2013, JoJo runs an accountancy firm. She’s a workaholic who is pretty much letting life pass her by. However, when a car hits her, she finds herself transported back to 1963. She has travelled through time and she has to figure out why before she can get home again. From the 60’s she travels to the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s.
The concept of this book intrigued me before I even started reading it. I am fascinated by time travel (and yes, I have watched Back To The Future and Quantum Leap a few times.)
I loved this book. I liked how elements of JoJo’s 2013 were ever-present when she travelled but were in different guises and I liked how each time zone found her in a slightly different circumstance.
The references to the years which she travelled to, Continue reading
by Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy
Our Rating: 3 out of 5.
Bridget Jones is now in her fifties. She’s a widow and a single mother of Billy and Mabel. She’s trying to juggle family life with a toy boy and a job as a screenwriter with the same humour and grace as she’s done in previous novels.
OK, let’s get this out of the way. I wasn’t happy when I found out about Mark Darcy’s absence in this book. He was part of what made Bridget Jones’s Diary so great for me. Due to his absence, I had a mixture of excitement and nerves before reading as I didn’t want this addition to ruin the others in the series for me.
However, once I started to read it, it was evident that Mark couldn’t be in this book. If it were just a case of them being separated or divorced, it would be all about Continue reading
by Christmas Carol by Michele Gorman
Kindle Edition, Notting Hill Press, 2013.
One winter wedding, two happy couples, three ex-boyfriends… And a very uncomfortable weekend.
Carol hates Christmas. Being recently dumped, she’s not crazy about weddings either. So her sister Marley’s nuptials, over the Christmas weekend, are making her positively Scrooge-like.
When she arrives for the weekend at the stately home in rural Scotland to find her three ex-boyfriends in attendance, Carol has no choice but to face her ghosts to discover what really happened in those relationships, learning a lot about herself in the process. As the snow falls outside and the fire crackles in the hearth, might one of the wedding guests become the harbinger of Christmases to come?
This was a lovely modern take on Charles Dickens, The Christmas Carol. Romance and fiction, this story was great for me from the first page. Carol seems to have it together – she’s single but successful at her job. Her sister, Marley, is getting married and not being a fan of Christmas, Carol is forced a little into the festivities. Carol would rather be at work with her blackberry. Continue reading
by Happy Birthday, Mr Darcy?
Happy Birthday Mr Darcy has been released in the same year as the two hundredth anniversary of Pride and Prejudice. It’s the summer and Katherine and Warwick are getting married in a romantic, Jane Austen themed wedding but will they make it to the altar?
I am a little new to Victoria Connelly’s books and although this is part of the Austen Addicts series, you can read this book on its own without having read the previous books and still have a good understanding of what is going on and who everyone is. Victoria explains this without stalling the story at all and I picked it up quickly (in a good way.)
As a result of not being overly familiar with the previous two novels, I didn’t know what to expect. Continue reading
by The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks
Sphere, 17th September 2013.
Nicholas Sparks has this gift of being able to make me cry (in a good way.) The Longest Ride tells the story of three people – Ira, Luke and Sophia. Three strangers whose lives are about to come together in good but also tragic ways.
Ira’s story is the only one written in the first person. He’s just been in a car accident, he’s alone and in the aftermath, whilst he’s stuck in his car, he starts to see his beloved wife who has been dead for the last nine years. The wife who he has never stopped loving. The first person narrative helps with the immediacy of Ira’s story. His story is both tragic and beautiful and, as the story progresses, so does your empathy grow for his character and you find out what a wonderful man he is and why he was in his car in the middle of a snow storm. Continue reading
by I Heart London by Lindsey Kelk
Published by Harper, June 2012.
Angela Clark has fallen in love with New York but when home calls, Angela finds herself back in London where she keeps running into her ex boyfriend, Mark, her friend is dealing with a new baby and where her mother keeps talking to her as though she’s still a teenager. Can the arrival of her boyfriend and best friend make Angela feel better about being home?
by Through It All by Kristyn Lewis
Sphere, July 2013.
Waverley would do anything for her two best friends except tell them the truth about what’s going on in her life. She is not only about to loose her bakery but her house too.
She is envious of her two best friends – Kate, whose husband is running for Governor of Virginia and Amy, who has a beautiful daughter and a seemingly happy marriage.
Waverley is not only about to loose her business but possibly her house as well. With all this going on, she almost misses things going on with her friends that are happening right in front of her and tries to help before it’s too late.
This looks at the complex friendship between three women and does this well. Waverley seems like the strong person keeping her friendship circle together but seems to become less together as the story unfolds.
by The Second Life of Amy Archer by RS Pateman
Orion, July 2013.
Released by Orion, July 2013.
I wanted to read this from the moment I read the blurb. I found the story idea so interesting. How could a child, who had been missing suddenly reappear after ten years – having not aged a day? Straight away, it pulls you into a mystery you’re immediately trying to solve.
I couldn’t put this book down (even when I was supposed to be doing other things, like sleeping.)
The Second Life of Amy Archer follows Beth’s story. It’s told entirely from her viewpoint so you do get a really good look into her mental state. It helps bring across the loneliness she is feeling at the beginning of the book as you start to learn about Amy’s disappearance.
Libby arrives on Beth’s doorstep ten years after Amy disappeared with the news that her ten-year-old daughter, Esme, is in fact, Amy.
Beth then goes on a rollercoaster of emotions, Continue reading
by The Husband’s Secret Blog Tour: Review.
Penguin, August 2013.
The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty.
Penguin, August 2013.
The Husband’s Secret firstly focuses on Cecelia who seems to have it all – a wonderful husband and perfect children. However, when she finds a sealed envelope addressed to her, in her husband’s handwriting saying ‘To my wife. To be opened in the event of my death,’ hidden among his things, she battles with the choice to open it.
It then turns to Tess who has just found out that her husband has fallen in love with someone else. Trying to escape the betrayal she feels, she takes her son and retreats back to her mother’s house in Sydney.
Finally, we have Rachel whose daughter was murdered many years before. Her main focus is now on her small grandson whose parents now want to take him out of the country.
These three women are soon bound together by this letter. The first part of the book sets up the characters and looks at their lives before Cecelia opens the letter. The second half is dealing with the aftermath once the letter is opened. I have to admit, when the book first began to focus on these three women, I wasn’t sure where the story was going to go. I love a good mystery though and once I’d got my head around who everyone was, I was hooked to the story and couldn’t put the book down.
It poses a very interesting question. If you found a letter addressed to you but with instructions not to open it, would you? I’m not sure I’d be able to resist.
Rachel’s and Tess’ stories are heart-breaking and although she was my least favourite character, I felt sorry for Cecelia when having to make a difficult choice – the truth or protecting her family and her life. It’s hard to know what anyone of us would do in that situation. The revelation in the letter I didn’t see coming straight away and I actually liked the fact that the secret was only revealed half way through. It established the characters well and the plot was well thought out – not giving too much away too soon.
I was intrigued as to how it was all going to be resolved at the end. I enjoyed this book and recommend it as a good holiday book.
by What’s Your Number? by Karyn Bosnak
Corgi, Sept 2011.
Delilah Darling wakes up one morning to realise that she has, without meaning to, hit the Big Twenty and she still hasn’t found The One.
“Everybody’s got a number. In fact, everyone has a few numbers. There’s the one we tell our friends, the one we tell our boyfriends, and the one, if absolutely pushed, that we tell our parents. But only we know what our true number is. Come on, you know what I mean… How many people have you slept with? Well, I was getting a little self-conscious about my number. So I decided that twenty would be my limit. No more. Not ever. But then I woke up one morning and realized that I’d accidentally reached the Big Twenty and still hadn’t found The One. Disaster! I’ve only got one option – to go on the ultimate road trip back to the beginning and revisit all those past lovers. Could I have missed the Love of My Life without realizing it? “
I read this book after I saw the film; therefore, it was a little hard to visualize anyone who wasn’t in the movie. Continue reading
by 365 Ways To Get You Writing: Daily Inspiration & Advice for Creative Writers by Jane Cooper
How To Books Limited, May 2012.
365 practical activities to kick-start your daily writing.
I have only been using this book a few days and already I can see the benefit of something like this. I have a lot of ‘how to write’ books and I have to say, I prefer practical books like this which actually get me writing rather than just giving me examples. This acts like a workbook and gives you space to write your answers. The first activity was ‘show, don’t tell’ and this was an area I particularly struggle with so, therefore, I found this activity very helpful. I am looking forward to seeing what else is in store.
If you’re wanting a daily exercise every day to warm up the writing muscles or just want to dip in and out, this is the book for you.
by The Night Flower by Sarah Stovell.
The Night Flower by Sarah Stovell is released via Tindal Street and is available from 15th August 2013.
The Blurb:
Two girls are brought together under the worst of circumstances: a prison ship taking them from London to “parts beyond the sea. Barely surviving an appalling voyage, the two arrive just before Christmas into the blinding sun of the strange new island: Van Dieman’s Land. Here they are sent to work in the town’s nursery, where women of ill-repute give birth before being sent for correction. The nursery is run by corrupt, debauched Reverend and his idealistic son, who soon takes a fancy to Miriam. But Rose, her best friend and close confidant, watches jealously and makes plans to reverse their fortunes. This tale takes the reader on a thrilling Dickensian adventure to a Tasmanian “frontier town” where anything could happen and “morality” is made by monsters
The Night Flower tells the story of Rose (a well-educated Victorian governess,) and Miriam, a poor Gyspy girl, who are both transported to ‘the parts beyond the sea,’ for the crime of stealing. I found this book quite heavy at the beginning. The dialect used took me a little while to get used to but once I got into the rhythm of the book and the fact that each character gets an alternative chapter, I was hooked despite it being quite an uncomfortable read about prejudice and stigma. Continue reading
by Review: Me & You by Claudia Carroll
Avon, 1st August 2013.
Angie knows a lot about her best friend Kitty. She knows Kitty is mad and wild and loves to wear clashing colours. She knows she’s incredibly funny and generous but also very unreliable. And she knows that there is a perfect explanation for Kitty standing her up on her birthday. She thinks she knows everything about Kitty, except she doesn’t. Kitty knows that she is the happiest she has ever been. She knows she’s so lucky to have a lovely boyfriend, Simon and a best friend like Angie. But what she doesn’t know is that on this night, her past is finally going to catch up with her.
From the moment I received this book, I was looking forward to reading it. The cover was really cute and the story interesting – how could someone disappear into thin air? Why would they? Also, would we ever find out what happened? From the first page, I was hooked. There was mystery in the plot. I can’t resist a good mystery as I try to work out what has happened whilst I read. Angie is a warm, if slightly crazy character and, like her friends in the book, you can’t help but like her from the first page. Simon sounds like a lovely boyfriend to have and I also liked Jack; feeling there was more to him than first appeared and hoping it would be he if ended up with Angie (although you will have to read the book to find out if he does!) Written in part like a diary, this helped the plot along nicely (and helped establish between Angie and Kitty,) and I really felt as though I was on the same journey as the characters – like I was on a quest to find Kitty. I was intrigued to maybe know more of Kitty’s story once she left Ireland as I feel there’s a whole load of her story we didn’t get to see which, I understand wouldn’t have helped the pace of this book. I couldn’t put this book down (reading when I should have been packing up for a house move..oops.) I loved Me & You. It was my first proper introduction to Claudia’s books (there were others in my to read pile that are now definitely being pulled up the list,) and I’ve very firmly become a fan.
by My Husband Next Door by Catherine Alliott.
When Ella married the handsome, celebrated artist Sebastian Montclair at just nineteen she was madly in love. Now, those blissful years of marriage have turned into the very definition of an unconventional set-up. Separated in every way but distance, Sebastian resides in an outhouse across the lawn from Ella’s ramshackle farmhouse. With an ex-husband living under her nose and a home crowded by hostile teenaged children, gender-confused chickens – not to mention her hyper critical mother whose own marriage slips spectacularly off the rails -Ella finds comfort in the company of the very charming gardener, Ludo. Then out of the blue Sebastian decides to move on, catching Ella horribly unawares. How much longer can she hide from what really destroyed her marriage . . . and the secret she continues to keep?
My Husband Next Door was my introduction to Catherine Alliott’s books so I wasn’t entirely sure what to except. It was an interesting premise. At the beginning of the book, I wasn’t sure where it was going to go but the further I got into the story, the more I couldn’t put it down.
The plot rolls out well but not slow enough that I lost interest.
Ella is a very conflicted character. At the start of her story, you think she has it very together when in fact, she’s not aware of what effect her actions are having on her family and it was heartbreaking to read at times. There were moments when I was cheering for her and other moments when she was frustrating the hell out of me.
There’s a great cast of supporting characters, which help the plot along nicely.
By the end, I was hoping everything was going to be OK for everyone. There were some sad moments, happy moments and parts, which made me full on laugh out loud.
Fans of Catherine I’m sure will love it and, if you, like me have never read one of her books before, give this one a go.
(My Husband Next Door by Catherine Alliott. 1st August, Trade paperback £12.99/ebook £7.99, Michael Joseph)
by Before I Met You by Lisa Jewell.
Arrow, May 2013.
London, 1920. Arlette works in Liberty by day, and by night is caughty up in a glamorous whirl of parties, clubs, cocktails and jazz. But when tragedy strikes she flees the city, never to return.
Over half a century later, in the grungy mid-’90s, her granddaughter Betty arrives in London.
She can’t wait to begin her new life. But before she can do so, she must find the mysterious woman named in her grandmother’s will.
What she doesn’t know is that her search will uncover the heartbreaking secret that changed her grandmother’s life, and might also change hers for ever…
Laura’s Verdict:
by The Long War by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
Harper, 2013
War has come to the Long Earth….
Humankind has spread across the new worlds opened up by stepping, which Joshua and Lobsang explored a mere decade ago. Now “civilization” flourishes, and fleets of airships link the multiple Earths through exploration, trade, and culture.
Humankind is shaping the Long Earth, but in turn the Long Earth is shaping humankind. A new America that has christened itself “Valhalla” has emerged more than a million steps from the original Datum Earth. And like the American revolutionaries of old, the Valhallans resent being controlled from afar by the Datum government.
In the intervening years, the song of the trolls—graceful, hive-mind humanoids—has suffused the Long Earth. But in the face of humankind’s inexorable advance, they are beginning to fall silent . . . and gradually disappear.
Joshua, now married and a father, is summoned by Lobsang. It seems that he alone can confront the perfect storm of crises that threatens to plunge all of the Long Earth into war.
by Who is Mr Satoshi by Jonathan Lee.
Paperback ed. Windmill Books, July 2011.
Soon after his mother dies, forty one year old reclusive photographer Rob Fossick finds an unexplained package addressed to Mr Satoshi in his mother’s belongings. The quest that follows will propel Rob into the urban world of Tokyo and with the help of some new and colourful acquaintances; he will start to unravel the mystery surrounding the identity of Mr Satoshi. However, before he can do this, Rob will have to face his own past and reconnect with the world.
This book had been sat on the pile for a while but when I did start reading, I couldn’t stop. I found the plot instantly interesting.
by Inferno by Dan Brown.
Bantam Press, May 2013.
‘Seek and ye shall find.’
With these words echoing in his head, eminent Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon awakes in a hospital bed with no recollection of where he is or how he got there. Nor can he explain the origin of the macabre object that is found hidden in his belongings.
A threat to his life will propel him and a young doctor, Sienna Brooks, into a breakneck chase across the city of Florence. Only Langdon’s knowledge of hidden passageways and ancient secrets that lie behind its historic facade can save them from the clutches of their unknown pursuers.
With only a few lines from Dante’s dark and epic masterpiece, The Inferno, to guide them, they must decipher a sequence of codes buried deep within some of the most celebrated artefacts of the Renaissance – sculptures, paintings, buildings – to find the answers to a puzzle which may, or may not, help them save the world from a terrifying threat.
Dan Brown’s books are not everyone’s cup of tea. They are a guilty pleasure of mine.
by The Language of Spells by Sarah Painter.
Carina, May 2013
Gwen Harper left Pendleford thirteen years ago and hasn’t looked back. Until an inheritance throws her into the mystical world she thought she’d escaped. Confronted with her great-aunt’s legacy Gwen must finally face up to her past. The magic she has long tried to suppress is back with a vengeance but gift or burden, for Gwen, it always spells trouble. She has to stay – she has nowhere else to go – but how can she find her place in the town that drove her out after branding her a witch…?
This book has such an interesting premise. I love books that hint at magic and so this was right up my street.
I liked Gwen from the first page (she was a great protagonist,) and I immediately wanted to know what had happened to her and what was going to happen. Cameron was a great love interest and, to me, he had a slight ‘Mr Darcy,’ air about him.
by The Twelve Days To Christmas by Michelle Gorman.
CreateSpace. 2012
Twelve Days To Christmas by Michelle Gorman.
Here’s the blurb:
Hannah’s in a bit of a pickle. In twelve days she flies from Hong Kong to the US with Sam, where he’s finally going to meet her parents and ask to marry her.
Since overcoming a rather rocky patch in their relationship (which was totally his fault), he really is a new man, and they’re completely in love. The problem is, she feels panicky every time she contemplates matrimony. Which is perfectly normal, isn’t it? Isn’t it?! She has no idea but she’s got to find out before he pops the question… because she’s not 100% sure she’s going to say yes. Which will make for a very uncomfortable family holiday. He’s got to ask her before they go. So Operation Proposal begins.
by The Time of my Life by Cecelia Ahern.
Harper, 2012.
Sometimes we need to make time for our life.
Lucy Silchester is taking her life for granted. She’s busied herself with other stuff – friends, work and her car (which is on it’s last legs.)
It’s time for a wake up call.
Only Lucy knows the truth and she’s deluding everyone else.
It’s time for a meeting with her life. It turns out that Lucy’s life is a kind but rather rundown man in an old suit who is determined to bring about change and not to let Lucy off the hook.
I’m a fan of Cecelia Ahern. I like the mix of reality and fantasy; how Cecelia takes the ordinary and adds a little magic. Continue reading
by Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher.
Penguin, 2013.
Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher.
Penguin, May 2013.
Sophie May has been keeping a secret – one that she’s managed to keep for years. With her dreams of going to university and travelling the world given up, Sophie is satisfied to live in her little village, living with her mother and working in the local teashop where she’s worked since she was a teenager.
When the gorgeous Billy arrives in the village, Sophie’s world is turned upside down. An actor with ambitions, Billy wants to make it to the top but it’s not long before he sweeps Sophie off her feet and whisks her away into Billy’s glamorous and ruthless world.
After shying away from attention for so long, can Sophie handle the scrutiny that comes with being with Billy? Also, is she ready for her secret heartbreak to be shared with the nation?
Billy and Me is the kind of debut novel that I some day want to write. It’s warm, charming, engaging, grounded and funny. Continue reading
by The Mystery of Mercy Close by Marian Keyes.
The Mystery of Mercy Close by Marian Keyes.
Paperback edition. Penguin, April 2013.
Helen Walsh doesn’t believe in fear. She thinks it’s just something invented by men to get more money and better jobs, yet she’s sinking. Her job as a PI has dried up, she’s lost her flat and has had to move back in with her parents and now some old demons have resurfaced – her ex-boyfriend, Jay for starters.
Jay turns up with a load of cash and a missing persons case. Having no money herself, Helen is forced to help Jay find Wayne Diffney, ‘the wacky one’ from boy band, Laddz.
Helen’s not happy about having to work with Jay. Things didn’t end well with him plus Helen has a new boyfriend now – the very sexy Artie Devlin. Jay’s reappearance is stirring up way too many feelings Helen thought she’d left behind.
Helen is drawn into a dark and glamorous world where her worse enemy is her own head and where she only really feels connected to Wayne, a man she’s never met.
by The President’s Hat by Antoine Laurain
The President’s Hat by Antoine Laurain.
Gallic Books, March 2013.
Daniel is dining alone in an elegant but expensive Parisian Brasserie and can hardly believe his eyes when President François Mitterrand sits down to eat at the table next to him. It’s once the President has left that Daniel finds Mitterrand’s black hat. After a few moments of soul searching, Daniel decides to keep the hat as a souvenir – a reminder of an extraordinary evening. The hat is a perfect fit. When Daniel wears it, he starts to feel somehow different.
This book had such an unusual premise. From the first few pages I was hooked into the story. I started to read and before I knew it, I was already halfway through. The plot interested me – the thought of one object being the link between different people. I am always fascinated when fact is mixed in with fiction (which is what I liked about The Chaperone by Laura Moriaty.) At the beginning, I thought that Daniel was going to be the main protagonist but it was a surprise when other characters were introduced as the hat found them. It could be a co-incidence or it could be magic and destiny. Daniel, Fanny and Aslan were fascinating characters and I want to know what happened to them beyond the end of the story. Bernard was the character I liked/related to the least but when the plot surrounding him develops, I could see his place in the book. There was also a nice twist at the end too which I didn’t really see coming. I like it when a book pleasantly surprises me and this was certainly one of them. If you like stories that hint at destiny and have a little magic in them, then you’ll like The President’s Hat. I did.
by Leftovers by Stella Newman.
Avon, April 2013.
Leftovers by Stella Newman
Review by Helen Jackson.
A novel about friendship, hope and the power of pasta from the bestselling author of Pear Shaped.
According to a magazine, Susie is a ‘Leftover’ – a post Bridget Jones 30 something who has neither her dream man, job, nor home. She doesn’t even own six matching dinner plates.
According to her friend Rebecca, Susie needs to get over her ex, Jake, start online dating – or at least stop being so rude to every guy who tries to chat her up.
But Susie’s got a plan. If she can just make it the 307 days till her promotion and bonus, she can finally quit and pursue her dream career in food, then surely everything else will fall into place. If only her love life wasn’t so complicated…
A sharp, witty and refreshing novel about love, friendship and enjoying what’s left on the table.
by The Ugly Sister by Jane Fallon.
The Ugly Sister by Jane Fallon.
Penguin, 2011.
Review by Laura Parish.
When it comes to family, you can’t pick them. Abi should know; she’s been in the shadow of her older sister, Cleo for as long as she can remember. It’s made worse when Cleo is spotted by a modelling agent and is whisked away for a life of fame and glamour. Cleo has been all but lost to Abi for the past twenty years. When, out of the blue Cleo invites Abi to come and stay with her and her family over the summer, Abi sees it as an opportunity to build bridges and spend some time with her sister, getting to know her again. What Abi didn’t bargain for was for Cleo to be preoccupied with other things and to be left with an unhappy brother in law and two spoilt children.
by Stalkers by Paul Finch.
Stalkers by Paul Finch. 
Avon, February 2013.
Review by Helen Jackson.
Time’s up. You’re Next.
“All he had to do was name the woman he wanted. It was that easy. They would do all the hard work.”
Detective Sergeant Mark ‘Heck’ Heckenberg is investigating the disappearance of 38 different women. Each one was happy and successful until they vanished without a trace.
Desperate to find her missing sister, Lauren Wraxford seeks out Heck’s help. Together they enter a seedy underworld of gangsters and organised crime. Continue reading
by God Says No by James Hannaham.
God Says No by James Hannaham.
McSweeeney’s Publishing, 2009.
Review by Laura Parish.
Gary Grey and his girlfriend love Disney. They are fellow students at Central Florida Christian College. They are young, god fearing and are eager to start a family but a week before their wedding; Gary goes into a rest stop bathroom and lets something happen. God Says No is Gary’s testimony. It’s the story of a young, black Christian man struggling with desire and belief. It gives a picture of how a life like his can be lived and how it can’t.
I would never have independently picked up this book but this proves the cliché ‘never judge a book by its cover.’ Some of its themes would have been something that may have put me off if I had spotted it in a bookshop. I am glad that I gave this book a chance. Yes, this book has serious themes but it was still an enjoyable read.
by You Had Me At Hello by Mhairi McFarlane
You Had Me At Hello by Mhairi McFarlane
Avon, 2012.
Review by Helen Jackson.
What happens when the one that got away comes back? Find out in this sparkling debut from Mhairi McFarlane.
‘Think of the great duos of history. We’re just like them.’
‘You mean like Kylie and Jason? Torvill and Dean? Sonny and Cher?’
‘I think you’ve missed the point, Rachel.’
Rachel and Ben. Ben and Rachel. It was them against the world. Until it all fell apart. It’s been a decade since they last spoke, but when Rachel bumps into Ben one rainy day, the years melt away.
They’d been partners in crime and the best of friends. But life has moved on: Ben is married. Rachel is not. Yet in that split second, Rachel feels the old friendship return. And along with it, the broken heart she’s never been able to mend.
Hilarious, heartbreaking and everything in between, you’ll be hooked from their first ‘hello’. Continue reading
by The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling
The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling.
(Little, Brown. September 2012.)
Review by Laura Parish
Parish Counsellor Barry Fairbrother is dead. This has caused a casual vacancy on the Pagford Parish Council. It’s not long before the town is divided into two camps; the people, like Barry Fairbrother who believe that a council estate called ‘The Fields’ should stay part of Pagford and the people who wish to disassociate the estate from the town.
It’s not long before the people standing for election see their darkest secrets posted anonymously on the Parish Council’s online forum and their election hopes are put into question as well as the revelations having an effect with other aspects of the lives of the people of Pagford.
I am a HUGE fan of the Harry Potter books and therefore was both nervous and excited to be reading this book. I had the opportunity to visit the Southbank Centre and hear Jo Rowling talk about The Casual Vacancy and found that very interesting. Due to that and the hype surrounding its release, I wanted to wait to read it once everything had settled down, (a little like not seeing the films nominated for an Oscar until the ceremony has been and gone.)
Anything she wrote post Potter was going to be a hard sell. Having been placed into a genre that was suitable for a wider audience and creating a series of books that was so well loved, she had a hard task on her hands.
by The Ghost of You and Me & Between Today and Yesterday by Joanna Lambert.
The Ghost of You and Me
By Joanna Lambert.
Authors Online, 2010.
Review by Laura Parish.
The Ghost of You and Me is the third book in the Behind Blue Eyes trilogy.
It’s been a year since Matt and Ella had last seen one another in Meridian Cross. Now, back with Andy, Ella is trying to move on and is hoping that the arrival of their daughter will help things in their marriage. Things are going OK until Andy hears about his ex-girlfriend’s imminent wedding and he puts a plan in motion to stop it.
In the meantime, Matt is over in New York about to embark on a UK tour with his newest singing sensation, Marcie Maguire who is secretly in love with Matt and is trying to do everything in her power to get him to fall in love with her.
by The Girl You Left Behind by JoJo Moyes.
(The Girl You Left Behind by JoJo Moyes.
Review by Helen Jackson.
France, 1916. Sophie Lefevre must keep her family safe whilst her adored husband Edouard fights at the front. When she is ordered to serve the German officers who descend on her hotel each evening, her home becomes riven by fierce tensions. And from the moment the new Kommandant sets eyes on Sophie’s portrait – painted by Edouard – a dangerous obsession is born, which will lead Sophie to make a dark and terrible decision.
Almost a century later, and Sophie’s portrait hangs in the home of Liv Halston, a wedding gift from her young husband before he died. A chance encounter reveals the painting’s true worth, and its troubled history. A history that is about to resurface and turn Liv’s life upside down all over again . . .
In The Girl You Left Behind two young women, separated by a century, are united in their determination to fight for what they love most – whatever the cost.
by All That Glitters by Ilana Fox and introducing our latest contributor, Helen.
All That Glitters by Ilana Fox
(Orion, Sept 2012.)
Helen’s verdict on ‘All That Glitters’ by Ilana Fox.
Ella Aldridge seems to have it all. Married to Danny Riding, one of the Premiership’s leading goal-scorers, she lives the dream – the mansion, the car, the freebie designer clothes. But Ella and Danny have a secret. Their marriage is not what is seems. Between them, it takes a lot of hard work to fool the press and the nation that they really are Love’s Young Dream, when deep down Danny’s desires lie elsewhere.
With Ella’s star in the ascendant, the world is at her feet – a TV show, a fashion column. But then she meets Johnny Cooper, the bad boy of British television. He’s ruthlessly charming and sexy, and he can see through Ella’s sham of a marriage in a heartbeat. Drawn into a risky, high-octane affair, Ella suddenly realises how much she has to lose and how quickly it can be taken from her…
by Bared to You and Reflected in You by Sylvia Day.
Bared To You/Reflected in You
Sylvia Day
Penguin, 2012.
Bared to You and Reflected in you are the first two books in the Crossfire series. Eva is new to New York. Trying to escape a troubled past, Eva has a new life, a new apartment and a new job in an Advertising agency situated in the impressive Crossfire building. It’s not long before Eva meets Gideon Cross, the charming and mysterious owner of the Crossfire who is as gorgeous as he is rich but he’s also hiding an abusive past that he’s as eager to forget.
They are drawn together with a powerful sexual attraction but the road to love isn’t smooth for Eva and Gideon and they are as bad for each other as they are good.
by Letters From Yelena by Guy Mankowski.
Letters From Yelena by Guy Mankowski
(Legend Press, Oct 2012.)
Yelena is a Ukrainian Ballerina who is brilliant but flawed. She has come to the UK to fulfill her dream and dance one of Ballet’s most prestigious roles: Giselle.
Yelena soon meets Noah – a writer visiting the school whilst researching for his new book and both of them are soon on a journey of discovery. Life then takes an unexpected turn and the two of them begin writing letters to each other. During this process, Yelena visits dark areas of her life and her past soon catches up with her.
by The Patchwork Marriage by Jane Green.
The Patchwork Marriage by Jane Green. 
(Penguin, 2012.)
Are love and devotion enough to create a happy family? When Andi married Ethan she not only got the man she loved but also the chance to be a mother, to his daughters Emily and Sophia. Unable to have a child of her own, Andi saw this opportunity at motherhood as a precious gift. If only it were that simple. For this is not a happy family, and the trouble lies with Emily. Her conflicted feelings towards her stepmother leave Andi feeling hated in her own home despite years of trying to reach out to her stepdaughter. And with each new drama, Emily drives Andi and Ethan further apart. Just as Andi starts to contemplate a life without Ethan and the girls, Emily comes home with some shocking news. News that will change their lives for ever.
by The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty.
The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty.
Penguin, 2012.
Review by Laura Parish.
About the book:
On a summer’s day in 1922 Cora Carlisle boards a train from Wichita, Kansas, to New York City, leaving behind a marriage that’s not as perfect as it seems and a past that she buried long ago. She is charged with the care of a stunning young girl with a jet-black fringe and eyes wild and wise beyond her fifteen years. This girl is hungry for stardom and Cora for something she doesn’t yet know. Cora will be many things in her lifetime – an orphan, a mother, a wife, a mistress – but in New York she is a chaperone and her life is about to change. It is here under the bright lights of Broadway, in a time when prohibition reigns and speakeasies with their forbidden whispers behind closed doors thrive, that Cora finds what she has been searching for. It is here, in a time when illicit thrills and daring glamour sizzle beneath the laws of propriety that her life truly begins. It is here that Cora and her charge, Louise Brooks, take their first steps towards their dreams.
by Vs Journal.
Vs. Journal
Published by Knock Knock, 2011 (via Abrams & Chronicle Books.)
Review by Laura Parish.
Life is full of decisions. The Vs. Journal provides over two hundred illustrated face-offs of psychological import, insightful interpretations and writing room for contemplation – including reason vs. emotion, pancakes vs. waffles or The Beatles vs. The Rolling Stones. Continue reading
by Chocolate Shoes and Wedding Blues & The Magic of Christmas by Trisha Ashley.
Chocolate Shoes and Wedding Blues.
Trisha Ashley.
(Avon, May 2012.)
Tansy Poole inherits a run –down shoe shop in the village of Sticklepond – Cinderella’s Slippers is soon established, stocking the footwear to make any fairy-tale wedding come true.
If only Tansy’s personal life was as heavenly. With a fiancé trying to make her fit into a size eight wedding dress as well as the discovery of shocking family revelations, Tansy soon takes shelter in the shops success.
A link to her past also moves in next door, in the shape of ex fling, the actor Ivo Hawksley who is there to nurse his own broken heart.
Soon they discover that secrets shared begin to forge a special bond between them. Continue reading
by Brilliance by Anthony McCarten.
Brilliance by Anthony McCarten.
(Alma Books, 21th March 2012.)
Short of money, the inventor Thomas Edison is captivated by the charismatic figure of J.P. Morgan, the “world’s banker”. Accepting Morgan’s glittering offer of almost unlimited cash in return for helping the man change the way the world does business, Edison sees himself descend from being the godlike inventor of electric light to being complicit in the invention of the electric chair. Ever more enmeshed in Morgan’s personal life, he becomes infatuated by a world of privilege and power, where duty and desire, faith and immorality are thrown into conflict, ultimately threatening his own spiritual and creative survival. Continue reading
by 642 Things to Draw and 642 Things to Write About.
642 Things to Draw.
(Chronicle Books, Oct, 2010. 978-0811876445. Available from Amazon. Currently £8.15.)
‘This is a simple and addictive sketchbook with content. It includes many hip and entertaining things to draw including a bike, a waffle and RUN DMC.’ Continue reading
by Breakfast At Darcy’s by Ali McNamara.
Breakfast At Darcy’s by Ali McNamara. 
Sphere, 2011.
About the book:
When Darcy McCall loses her aunt, she doesn’t expect to inherit a small island. Tara is located off the west coat of Ireland and hasn’t been inhabited for years, but according to her aunt’s will, Darcy must stay there for twelve months before she can fully inherit. She will also need to persuade a village full of people to settle there with her.
Darcy will have to leave her independent life behind and swop heels for wellies, a magazine job for dealing with plumbing and pubs. Also, Darcy meets Connor and grumpy Dermot. Who will make her feel totally at home?
by Book Club
