Book Review: Christmas on the Riviera by Jennifer Bohnet
I am happy to be welcoming Jennifer Bohnet to Novel Kicks. She’s here with the blog tour for her book, Christmas on the Riviera
As a toddler Elodie Jacques was abandoned by her mother and left in the care of her French grandmother, Gabriella in Dartmouth, Devon.
Now 24 years old, Elodie struggles to reconcile the deep anger for the mother she has never since seen.
When Gabriella unexpectedly announces she wants the two of them to spend Christmas and her 70th birthday in her home town of Juan-les-Pins in the South of France Elodie is thrilled.
Gabriella meanwhile has her own ulterior motives for wanting to return after 40 years, a daunting homecoming potentially filled with memories, secrets and recriminations.
With Juan-les-Pins pulsing with lights, decorations and the festive spirit, Christmas promises to be filled with fun. But when Elodie learns there is the possibility that her long absent mother may join them she hides her feelings behind a show of indifference and animosity.
Will there be the reconciliation that Gabriella longs for – or will the spirit of Christmas fail to work its magic?
*****
It’s been many years since Gabriella has visited the place where she grew up in the South of France. Now, as her 70th birthday and Christmas approach, she has reason to return.
Her granddaughter, Elodie is nursing her own anger and hurt. Can this trip work its Christmas magic and they both find something they are looking for?
it didn’t take me long to fall into this story. Gabriella and Elodie are great, likeable characters. The supporting cast is wonderful and I wanted everything to work out well.
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Book Review: Chaos at Carnegie Hall by Kelly Oliver
I am so pleased to be welcoming Kelly Oliver to Novel Kicks. She’s here with the blog tour for her book, Chaos at Carnegie Hall.
Agatha Christie meets Downton Abbey in the Fiona Figg and Kitty Lane Mystery series opener.
Can Fiona catch a killer and find a decent cup of tea before her mustache wax melts?
- New York.
Notorious spy, Fredrick Fredricks, has invited Fiona to Carnegie Hall to hear a famous soprano. It’s an opportunity the War Office can’t turn down. Fiona and Clifford are soon on their way, but not before Fiona is saddled with chaperon duties for Captain Hall’s niece. Is Fiona a spy or a glorified babysitter?
From the minute Fiona meets the soprano aboard the RMS Adriatic it’s treble on the high C’s. Fiona sees something—or someone—thrown overboard, and then she overhears a chemist plotting in German with one of her own countrymen!
And the trouble doesn’t stop when they disembark. Soon Fiona is doing time with a group of suffragettes and investigating America’s most impressive inventor Thomas Edison.
When her number one suspect turns up dead at the opera and Fredrick Fredricks is caught red-handed, it looks like it’s finally curtains for the notorious spy.
But all the evidence points to his innocence. Will Fiona change her tune and clear her nemesis’ name? Or will she do her duty? And just what is she going to do with the pesky Kitty Lane? Not to mention swoon-worthy Archie Somersby . . .
If Fiona’s going to come out on top, she’s going to have to make the most difficult decision of her life: the choice between her head and her heart.
*****
It’s 1917 and Fiona Figg finds herself in New York. She’s been invited by spy, Fredrick Fredricks to Carnegie Hall, to watch a famous soprano. However, on top of her duties for the war office, she’s also having to chaperone Eliza, her boss’s niece.
From the moment they board the ship for America, there is mystery and potential crimes.
The plot thickens when Fiona’s prime suspect is found dead.
Can Fiona solve the mystery?
I was intrigued by the premise of this novel. I love mysteries and so this seemed right up my street and it didn’t disappoint.
by Book Review: The Coming Darkness by Greg Mosse
We are pleased to be welcoming Greg Mosse to Novel Kicks. He’s here with the blog tour for his new novel, The Coming Darkness.
Paris, 2037. Alexandre Lamarque of the French external security service is hunting for eco-terrorists. Experience has taught him there is no one he can trust – not his secretive lover Mariam, not even his old mentor, Professor Fayard, the man at the centre of the web. He is ready to give up. But he can’t.
In search of the truth, Alex must follow the trail through an ominous spiral of events, from a string of brutal child murders to a chaotic coup in North Africa. He rapidly finds himself in a heart-thumping race against chaos and destruction. He could be the world’s only hope of preventing THE COMING DARKNESS . . .
*****
Alexandre is in the French external security service, hunting for eco-terrorists.
He doesn’t know who to trust, not even his lover or his former mentor.
However, he can’t give up his search for the truth.
This book really hooked me from the first page. It’s fast paced and has multiple story lines running throughout. I wondered how they were all going to converge and couldn’t wait to find out.
Even though this is the first of his novels, you can tell that Greg Mosse is a seasoned writer. This book, in my opinion is very well written.
It offers short pieces of information that skilfully drive the plot forward which meant that I wanted to keep reading to find out how it was going to end.
by Book Review: A White Christmas on Winter Street by Sue Moorcroft
We are very pleased to be welcoming Sue Moorcroft back to Novel Kicks. She’s here with the blog tour for her novel, A White Christmas on Winter Street.
When Sky Terran returns to the village of Middledip after losing the job she loves, she anticipates a quiet Christmas getting used to her new life. However, the annual street decoration competition is coming up and this year, the residents of Winter Street are determined to win.
As she is pulled into the preparations, Sky quickly grows to love the quirky, tight-knit community she is now part of. Including the extremely handsome Daz, who soon becomes more than just a friendly neighbour.
But when Daz’s ex turns up determined to win him back and it seems he might not be the man Sky thought he was, she remembers how much allowing people into her life – and heart – can hurt. As the snow falls, will she and Daz find a way through – and help win a Christmas victory for Winter Street?
*****
Let me give you a definition of a pointless exercise – finding fault in a Sue Moorcroft novel.
For her Christmas story this year, we’re back in the welcoming fold of Middledip, Sue’s fictional village where quite a few of her stories are set, or touch upon. Warm, welcoming, A White Christmas on Winter Street delivers exactly what is says on the tin and instantly finds itself on my list of books to reread at that time of year from now on.
Principally the tale of Sky and Daz who don’t get off to the best of starts, so far as their relationship goes as they go head to head over the same item at an auction.
Sky’s in need of a new start and it turns out that finding herself in the middle of such a close community is exactly what she needs. Gradually, she warms to those around her as, without intending to, she discovers a warm, giving side to her personality she hadn’t been aware of.
A multi-generational tale, A White Christmas on Winter Street cracks along at just the right pace and, indeed, I found this a very hard book to put down. The characters, in this readers opinion, are beautifully written and Middledip has never been more enticing.
by Book Review: The Twelve Wishes of Christmas by Ruby Basu
I am pleased to welcoming Ruby Basu to Novel Kicks. She’s here with the book birthday blitz tour for her novel, The Twelve Wishes of Christmas.
She’s here for the perfect Christmas escape…
When Sharmila discovers her late friend, Thomas, has gifted her the holiday of her dreams, she can’t pack her bags fast enough. Arriving in Pineford, it’s everything she’d ever hoped for and more.
But she’s in for another surprise, because Thomas has left her with one last request: if she completes his Christmas wish list of festive activities, her chosen charity will receive a big donation. Or so Sharmila thinks.
…He’s there to reclaim his family’s legacy
Little does she know, she’s set to inherit Thomas’s estate too, much to his nephew Zach’s disbelief. Determined not to see his family’s legacy left to a stranger, he’s come to Pineford to do whatever it takes to stop Sharmila from fulfilling that list.
When Sharmila and Zach meet, neither are prepared for sparks to fly. For Sharmila’s sworn off love, and Zach doesn’t trust her. But with every passing wish they find themselves growing closer. And amongst the twinkling town lights and fallen snow, Sharmila can feel her heart opening up to Zach. But when she learns he’s been keeping a secret from her, can Sharmila forgive him and get the happy-ever-after she’s always wished for this Christmas?
****
When Sharmila finds out that she’s been gifted a holiday by her late friend, Thomas, she can’t wait to pack her bags and experience an American Christmas. Thomas has set her festive themed challenges. If she completes them, she gets money to donate to charity. What she doesn’t know is that she is also set to inherit Thomas’s estate, something his nephew Zach wants to stop. Can Christmas work its magic and bring a happy ending?
I was so pleased to be invited onto the tour for The Twelve Wishes of Christmas.
I really fell in love with the premise of this novel. It felt so romantic plus the cover is so lovely.
As I adore Christmas, I want to be Sharmila in this novel in that, I want to be able to experience a Christmas with all these activities and experiences. It sounds like a dream.
by Book Club
