Book Review: When Life Gives You Lemons by Fiona Gibson
Sometimes life can be bittersweet . . .
Between tending to the whims of her seven-year-old and the demands of her boss, Viv barely gets a moment to herself. It’s not quite the life she wanted, but she hasn’t run screaming for the hills yet.
But then Viv’s husband Andy makes his mid-life crisis her problem. He’s having an affair with his (infuriatingly age-appropriate) colleague, a woman who – unlike Viv – doesn’t put on weight when she so much as glances at a cream cake.
Viv suddenly finds herself single, with zero desire to mingle. Should she be mourning the end of life as she knows it, or could this be the perfect chance to put herself first?
When life gives you lemons, lemonade just won’t cut it. Bring on the gin!
I am very excited to welcome Fiona Gibson back to Novel Kicks and was so happy to be asked to be involved with the blog tour for her latest novel, When Life Gives You Lemons.
Viv is so busy going between looking after her husband, Andy and their seven-year-old daughter, Izzy that she doesn’t have much time to herself. Add a demanding boss, there are not enough hours.
When she finds out that Andy has been lying to her, she is suddenly single, menopausal and has no interest in finding someone else. Is this the time to put herself first?
One of the main things I loved about this book is that yes, a traditional love story appears in the novel but it’s mostly about the love and respect Viv needs to develop for herself and how important that is, especially with the demands in her life.
This novel is about Viv rediscovering who she is and I adored this aspect. She is a character I think women of all ages can empathise with. Add to this that she is a very likeable woman who ultimately isn’t afraid to be who she is and take risks, and you have a fantastic, well-rounded, inspiring character.
The supporting cast was also great, Penny especially. I would love to see a book based on her life. It sounds fascinating. I could really picture her in my mind.
As I said, a realistic love story is present but I found the plot so much more than that.
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Book Review: A Question of Country by Sue Parritt
On Christmas Eve 1969, a letter from Australia House, London, brings welcome news for newly weds Anna and Joseph Fletcher.
Young and idealistic, Anna falls passionately in love with their adopted land. Seven months later, an unexpected event causes their life to take a stressful turn.
Years pass, and Anna retreats to a fictional world she has created. But when a different challenge presents itself, does she have the courage to take the risk… or will she take refuge in fantasy?
A Question of Country begins on Christmas Eve, 1969. Newlyweds Anna and Joseph receive a letter from Australia House and they are soon off to begin their new life in Brisbane.
Life isn’t as easy as the idealistic couple imagine and Anna finds herself retreating into a clandestine fiction world.
When opportunity arises, will she be courageous enough to take the risk or remain in her fantasy world.
It was so easy as a reader to get caught up in the enthusiasm Anna and Joseph feel when they embark on their new life in Australia that I quickly became invested in their story.
I found the setting and atmosphere in this novel intriguing and one of my favourite elements. The author gives us an insight into what life was like in 1970’s Brisbane, especially for the women.
The plot and themes focus on Anna and Joseph as a couple but in my opinion, it’s also about Anna and her finding her own identity in a time where women were still expected to uphold traditional family values. I feel it’s something a lot of women can empathise with.
by Book Review: The Silent House by Nell Pattison
If someone was in your house, you’d know … Wouldn’t you?
But the Hunter family are deaf, and don’t hear a thing when a shocking crime takes place in the middle of the night. Instead, they wake up to their worst nightmare: the murder of their daughter.
The police call Paige Northwood to the scene to interpret for the witnesses. They’re in shock, but Paige senses the Hunters are hiding something.
One by one, people from Paige’s community start to fall under suspicion. But who would kill a little girl?
Was it an intruder?
Or was the murderer closer to home?
Jaxon Hunter wakes up in the middle of the night and finds a strange figure in his room. This person tells him to go back to sleep. When he wakes up in the morning, his sister, Lexi, is dead.
The Hunter family are deaf and didn’t hear the intruder.
The police call on BSL interpreter, Paige Northwood to help them interview the witnesses but before long, Paige is drawn further into the case and begins to wonder if the killer is not an intruder but someone closer than she can imagine.
The Silent House is partly told from the point of view of Paige and also from the POV of Elisha, Lexi’s stepmother and one of the prime suspects.
I found this novel to have such a sinister atmosphere. It begins with the murder of an eighteen-month-old baby so it’s not shying away from tackling a difficult and heart-breaking situation.
The tension builds pretty much from the first page.
by Book Review: Clover Cottage by Christie Barlow
Hello and welcome to Christie Barlow and the blog tour for her new novel, Clover Cottage. This is the third novel in the Love Heart Lane series.
Love Heart Lane – where friends are there for you no matter what.
When Vet Rory Scott inherits ramshackle Clover Cottage in the quaint village of Heartcross, Allie MacDonald just knows this is their happy ever after. A place to call home with the man she loves – it’s her dream come true!
Until Rory drops a bombshell. He loves Allie but he has dreams of his own to follow – to live and work in Africa. Clover Cottage will have to wait just a little longer…
Allie can’t imagine life without Rory, but she loves him too much to hold him back. And as he embarks on his adventure, Allie begins to rethink her own plans. She loves Rory and knows she wants him in her life, but maybe she can follow her own dreams too?
And always there, nestled in the beautiful village of Heartcross, surrounded by the people she loves, will be the place that will always bring them back to each other. Their forever home, Clover Cottage.
Allie has lived in Heartcross for most of her life and with Rory, the local vet, she feels as though she has met the love of her life. When he inherits Clover Cottage, she begins to picture the potential happy life for them both. When Rory drops a bombshell and opportunities threaten to pull them apart, Allie can feel the happiness slip away.
This is the third installment in the Love Heart Lane series and although I had not read the previous two books, this can be read as a standalone. There are characters that cross between the novels, but I didn’t feel as though I was playing catch up. I do want to eventually make my way through the first two books in the series though as I have quickly fallen in love with the residents of Heartcross.
All of these characters add something wonderful to the story and to me, feel real and relatable, even Zach, the visiting celebrity. I like how he was incorporated into the story. It wasn’t how you’d expect. I didn’t guess how it was going to go and it didn’t end the way I thought. There were a few surprises that kept the pace up well.
This was told from Allie’s point of view. I liked her. She displays a rollercoaster of emotions and I became invested in the relationship between Allie and Rory.
by Book Review: The River Home by Hannah Richell
Hello to Hannah Richell and the blog tour for her latest novel, The River Home.
The river can lead you home. Or it can take you under…
In their ramshackle Somerset home, its gardens running down to the river, the Sorrells have gathered for a last-minute wedding.
Lucy is desperate to reunite her fractured family. Eve is fighting to keep her perfect life together. Their mother, Kit, a famous author whose stories have run dry, still seethes with resentment towards her youngest child. And Margot, who left home eight years ago under a black cloud, is forced to come face to face with her darkness…
As the family come together for a week of celebration and confrontation, their relationships are stretched to breaking point. But can you ever heal the wounds of the past?
Eve, Lucy and Margot may be sisters but they are all very different.
Eve is the stoic older sister. On the outside, she has the perfect marriage and two children.
Lucy is the free spirit, the one who just wants her family back together.
Margot is the mysterious, closed off sister who has done all she can to put miles between herself and her childhood home and Kit, their mother who is struggling to finish her best-selling series of books.
When Lucy announces that she’s getting married, Margot heads home and back to the past she has wanted to escape from.
One word for this novel… WOW.
This is the first of Hannah’s books I have read but I am fast becoming a fan.
Immediately, I was drawn into this compelling novel, right from the first page. I could picture Windfalls, the river and the surrounding areas. It all felt so vivid.
The characters are all strong, complicated women who, through a lack of communication, miss out on so much with one another. It made me sad. I got emotionally involved with all these women. Each of them has such a distinct, unique voice. They are each holding their own secrets and there was a small part of me that wanted to shake them all. I grew so fond of them throughout the course of the book.
by Book Review: The Five Year Plan by Carla Burgess
Orla is a trainee reporter with a five-year plan: work her way up the career ladder, move to London and secure a job on a big national newspaper. She doesn’t want a boyfriend, he’s only going to hold her back anyway.
Aiden spends his life travelling the world and living in a tent. He knows his goal: to photograph animals and raise awareness of global warming and wildlife conservation. He’s definitely not looking for a relationship past the odd casual hook-up!
So when Orla and Aiden’s lives collide, they do everything to not fall for each other – with the opposite effect. But they stick to their plans, and go their separate ways…
Five years later, they meet again…
Orla has a five year plan. Advance in her journalism career, move to London and work at one of the national papers. What she didn’t count on was Aiden.
He’s a wildlife photographer who spends his life traveling the world. They don’t plan to fall in love but they do.
by New Book Releases: March 2020
Tinder Press
If there was ever a time to stay in, curl up in a comfortable chair and find a good book, this is it.
So, without further ado, I wanted to share some upcoming March releases with you all.
The first one up is one I am very excited for and that is Hamnet, the latest from Maggie O’ Farrell.
The plot sounds right up my street. It goes something like this.
On a summer’s day in 1596, a young girl falls ill. Her twin brother, Hamnet, searches for help but there seems to be no one home.
Their mother is a mile away in her garden which is full of medicinal herbs. Their father is in London. Neither parent know that one of their children will not survive the week.
This is due to be released on 31st March.
Orion
The second book on my list is Tiny Pieces of Us by Nicky Pellegrino.
You know when you read the blurb of a book and you know it’s something you have to read but it is also going to make you cry. This is one of those books for me.
Also due for release on 31st March, Tiny Pieces of Us focuses on Vivi Palmer. She knows what it’s like to live life carefully. She was born with a heart defect and although she’s now had a heart transplant, she’s not dared to make the most of it.
When she comes face to face with Grace, the donor’s mother, she wants Vivi to help her find the other people who have pieces of her son.
Vivi may just find a whole new world waiting for her.
The next book on the list is The Silence by Daily Pearce. This book was released on 1st March (you can read my interview with Daisy here,) and it sounds amazing.
by Book Review: A Stranger on the Beach by Michele Campbell
There is a stranger outside Caroline’s house.
Her spectacular new beach house, built for hosting expensive parties and vacationing with the family she thought she’d have. But her husband is lying to her and everything in her life is upside down, so when the stranger, Aidan, shows up as a bartender at the same party where Caroline and her husband have a very public fight, it doesn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary.
As her marriage collapses around her and the lavish lifestyle she’s built for herself starts to crumble, Caroline turns to Aidan for comfort…and revenge. After a brief and desperate fling that means nothing to Caroline and everything to him, Aidan’s obsession with Caroline, her family, and her house grows more and more disturbing. And when Caroline’s husband goes missing, her life descends into a nightmare that leaves her accused of her own husband’s murder.
Caroline sees a stranger outside her new beach house. Her house that reflects her outwardly perfect life.
Her husband however is lying to her and everything in her life is turning upside down.
So, when Aiden shows up, a bartender at the party where she has a very public row with her husband, she turns to him for comfort… and revenge.
Although their brief fling means nothing to Caroline, Aiden becomes obsessed.
Then Caroline’s husband goes missing and her life descends into chaos where she is suspected of her own husband’s murder.
I’d not read any of Michele’s novels so this was my introduction. It did not disappoint.
This novel pretty much had me on the edge of my seat all the way through.
It’s a rollercoaster of suspense, tension and an ending that blindsided me.
The style of writing was interesting. It jumps around but I was soon completely into the story.
by Book Review: The Hidden Girl and Other Stories by Ken Liu
From a Tang Dynasty legend of a young girl trained as an assassin with the ability to skip between dimensions on a secluded mountain sanctuary to a space colony called Nova Pacifica that reflects on a post-apocalyptic world of the American Empire and ‘Moonwalker’ Neil Armstrong, award-winning author Ken Liu’s writings are laced with depictions of silkpunk fantasy, Sci-Fi and old Chinese folklore, wrapped up in a mesmerising genre-bending collection of short stories.
Ken Liu is one of the most lauded short story writers of our time. This much-anticipated collection includes a selection of his latest science fiction and fantasy stories over the last five years – sixteen of his best – plus a new novelette. In addition to these seventeen selections, The Hidden Girl and Other Stories also features an excerpt from book three in the Dandelion Dynasty series, The Veiled Throne.
When asked to take part in the blog tour for The Hidden Girl and Other stories, I couldn’t wait to get started.
The Hidden Girl and Other Stories is a collection of sixteen science fiction and fantasy stories. Most of them focus around technology and the human condition.
The first thing I want to comment on is the cover. It is absolutely beautiful.
I had not read any of Ken Liu’s writing before so I didn’t quite know what to expect. This is a stunning set of stories that really go into the amazing but sometimes devastating reality of technology and our reliance on it.
The Hidden Girl also examines how humans relate to one another and what we are capable of doing to each other.
These stories provoked such emotion and have made an impact. It was hard to pick one I liked over the others. However, Thoughts and Prayers was particularly hard to read when you consider what is happening in terms of gun control and internet trolling.
by Book Review: Robert Ludlum’s The Treadstone Resurrection by Joshua Hood
The first novel in an explosive new series inspired by Robert Ludlum’s Bourne universe, perfect for those who binged Treadstone.
Operation Treadstone made Jason Bourne, but he’s not the only agent they trained.
Treadstone nearly destroyed Adam Hayes. The top-secret CIA Black Ops program trained him to be an all-but-invincible assassin, but it also cost him his family and any chance at a normal life. Which is why he was determined to get out. Working as a carpenter in rural Washington state, Adam thinks he has left Treadstone in the past, until he receives a mysterious email from a former colleague, and soon after is attacked by an unknown hit team at work.
Adam must regain the skills that Operation Treadstone taught him – lightning reflexes and a cold conscience – in order to discover who the would-be killers are and why they have come after him now. Are his pursuers enemies from a long-ago mission? Rival intelligence agents? Or, perhaps, forces inside Treadstone? His search will unearth secrets in the highest levels of government and pull him back into the shadowy world he worked so hard to forget.
The Treadstone Resurrection is the first novel in an explosive new series inspired by Robert Ludlum’s Bourne universe, introducing an unforgettable hero and the covert world that forged him.
When I discovered there was a new series based around Treadstone and that there was also a new book in this series (which incidentally coincides with the 40th anniversary of the franchise), I was excited to be part of the blog tour.
Treadstone pretty much destroyed Adam Hayes life. Now working as a carpenter in rural America, he is happy to have left his old life behind.
When he receives an e-mail from an old colleague, he is quickly pulled back into his old world and must recall his training if he is to stay alive.
I feel I have to be honest and admit that I’ve not read any of the original Robert Ludlum novels. My main exposure to the Bourne universe has been the movies and I am a fan of those.
Adam Hayes is a perfect anti-hero who is pulled back into his previous life as a Treadstone agent. You could feel his resentment crossed with a sense of justice as he tries to figure things out.
The development of his character happens gradually through the novel but I got the feeling that there was still a lot about him that the reader isn’t told about. There is still a big air of mystery about him. He’s complicated that’s for sure and I hope that his background is explored more should more books be released which I hope will be the case.
by Book Review: Cloth of Grace by Rachel J Bonner
When the fate of the world rests on your shoulders, how do you choose between what you ought to do and the only thing you really want?
Leonie finally knows who she is. But now she needs to decide who she is going to be. Her choice will affect not just her family, not just those she knows, but tens, hundreds of thousands, millions of people that she doesn’t. And every path that’s open to her will put Perry under the pressures that caused his breakdown before. How can she do what she must and still protect Perry?
Perry desperately wants to make things easier for Leonie. Somehow he has to find the strength to face the things that all but destroyed him in the past. But every way he turns, some aspect of his past lies waiting to pounce – even during his happiest moments. And he can never forget that Leonie’s life is in danger from someone, somewhere.
Gabriel has managed to negotiate peace, at least in theory. Now he must put that into practice and reunite Leonie with the family she never knew she had. Then disaster strikes right in the middle of his own sanctuary. Can he still protect those he loves, or has he been harbouring a villain the whole time?
It’s nice to welcome the blog tour for Cloth of Grace to the blog today.
Leonie feels that she now knows who she is. However, she needs to figure out where she belongs whilst dealing with the pressure that brings. She wants to protect Perry. There are also people who don’t want Leonie to live and this puts both her and Perry in danger.
Cloth of Grace is the fourth novel in the Choice and Consequences series. I had not read the previous three novels before beginning this one. I did manage to keep up with the story but if you can read the others in the series before this one, it will help give you a better picture of what is going on. However, if you want to begin with Cloth of Grace, there is a brief summary of the plot at the start of the book which I found very helpful.
I really like the premise of this series. The magical aspect is something I found particularly intriguing. The one thing I struggled with was the religious elements but that is my personal preference.
I got the feeling all the way through that the plot was building into something big and it didn’t disappoint. I won’t say what as I don’t want to give anything away.
Leonie is someone I could easily relate to. She’s trying to figure out who she is, where she belongs and what her path should be. I kept forgetting how young she was. She is a very powerful character and has a strength that I feel is a little underestimated by the characters around her.
by Book Review: The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver
Lydia and Freddie. Freddie and Lydia. They’ve been together for almost a decade, and Lydia thinks their love is indestructible.
But she’s wrong. Because on her 27th birthday, Freddie dies in a tragic accident.
So now it’s just Lydia, and all she wants to do is hide indoors and sob ’til her eyes fall out. But Lydia knows that Freddie would want her to live her life well. So, enlisting the help of his best friend and her sister Elle, she takes her first tentative steps into the world and starts to live – perhaps even to love – again.
Then something unbelievable happens, and Lydia gets another chance at her old life with Freddie. But what if there’s someone in her new life who wants her to stay?
Lydia Bird is about to marry Freddie Hunter, the love of her life. Things are perfect.
Then Freddie dies in a car crash that also injures their close friend, Jonah.
Lydia doesn’t know what she will do without Freddie. She’s lost.
When she’s given pills to help her sleep, she takes them with relief. Then, once asleep, Freddie is there. She discovers that when she is asleep, she can be with Freddie. She can be with the man she loves. In this world, he never died and their life carries on. She couldn’t be happier and is quick to visit Freddie whenever she can.
It’s not long however before each life affects the other. Lydia has to decide where she belongs. Does she want the life she was promised or her ‘real world’ life?
Josie Silver is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. I adored One Day in December so I was excited to start reading this novel and I jumped at the chance to be part of the blog tour.
Lydia is a normal character and I felt that how she dealt with the grief was realistic and heartbreaking. It was not hard to empathise with her.
The supporting characters are also great and it was interesting to see things from their point of view – how a death like that affects not only the spouse but the people around them.
by Book Review: New Beginnings at Wynter House by Emily Harvale
The New Year brings unexpected revelations at Wynter House.
Neva Grey’s Christmas brought several surprises. Now a shocking secret has life-changing consequences for the Wynters, as the New Year brings revelations … and relatives to Wynter House.
It also brings Hazel Smart and Amelia Goodbody. And it’s not just Adam and Rafe Wynter who are pleased Hazel and Amelia have come to stay. Olivia Wynter will enjoy bossing nurse Hazel around and she also makes it clear Amelia – who is handling the marketing for Rafe’s new business venture – is far more suited to be her grandson’s girlfriend than Neva will ever be.
Whilst Amelia is ensconced at Wynter House, Neva is busy with her new hair and beauty salon in Merriment Bay. Perhaps she should enlist her niece, Sasha’s help because just when she thought she had found the love of her life, old secrets, ghosts from the past, and new arrivals might shatter all her dreams.
At least she has her best friend, Jo Duncan to lean on. But newly single, Jo is determined to have some fun, both at Wynter House and in Merriment Bay. And so is Adam Wynter.
This is book two in the Wyntersleap series but it can be read as a standalone. The Wyntersleap series is interlinked with the Merriment Bay series and several characters appear in both series.
I have fast become a fan of Emily Harvale and was excited to be a part of the New Beginnings at Wynter House blog tour.
Neva Grey’s Christmas was eventful and romantic. She and Rafé Wynter are enjoying their first week as a new couple and are very much in love. Rafé and Adam are looking to launch a new business and not only is Neva opening a new hair salon with her best friend, Jo, her parents are also moving to Merriment Bay.
Unforeseen challenges are not far away though.
The new year sees the return of Amelia Goodbody back to Wynter House and a new face, Hazel Smart.
A shocking family secret will soon be revealed that will change everything.
The cover to this book is so beautiful. I have fallen so in love with Merriment Bay. The setting is one of my favourite things about this novel. I want to move there. I love how all the books are connected by setting and people.
New Beginnings at Wynter house is full of endearing characters. I love Neva and Rafé and I especially like them together. As a reader, I became quite protective of them quite quickly so, like Neva, Amelia’s arrival set me on edge.
by Book Review: The Flatshare by Beth O’ Leary
Tiffy and Leon share a flat
Tiffy and Leon share a bed
Tiffy and Leon have never met…
Tiffy Moore needs a cheap flat, and fast. Leon Twomey works nights and needs cash. Their friends think they’re crazy, but it’s the perfect solution: Leon occupies the one-bed flat while Tiffy’s at work in the day, and she has the run of the place the rest of the time.
But with obsessive ex-boyfriends, demanding clients at work, wrongly imprisoned brothers and, of course, the fact that they still haven’t met yet, they’re about to discover that if you want the perfect home you need to throw the rulebook out the window…
Tiffy and Leon share a flat and a bed. But they have never met.
When Tiffy finds herself in need of a flat, Leon’s ad seems too good to be true. When she moves in, she still hasn’t met Leon.
They begin a relationship through notes left in the flat but with ex boyfriends and demanding jobs, the rule book for flat sharing may not fully apply.
I found it fascinating that the two main characters don’t immediately meet. My husband and I went through a stage when we were on opposite shifts so didn’t see each other for a few days at a time but there was evidence of the other’s existence in the house. We would also leave notes too, mostly saying that the cats are lying and they have been fed but I related to Tiffy and Leon’s relationship because of this. The idea you can forge a relationship using post it notes is one of the things I found the most interesting about this book.
Tiffy is my hero. She’s not perfect. She doesn’t always do the right thing or make the right decisions but throughout, I loved her and hoped that, in the end, she would trust the people who loved her and most importantly, herself in making the best decisions for her and realising that she deserves more.
The supporting characters are terrific. Everyone needs friends like Gertie, Mo and Rachel. The one exception is Justin. He is up there in my hall of fame of villains and could give Uriah Heep a run for his money.
I personally loved the style of writing. There was a casualness to how it was set up that suited the characters. I would say that Tiffy is the extrovert but Leon is quieter and more cautious. This comes across well in the dialogue and style of writing.
by Book Review: The Liar’s Daughter by Claire Allan
No one deserves to be taken before their time. Do they?
Joe McKee – pillar of the Derry community – is dead. As arrangements are made for the traditional Irish wake, friends and family are left reeling at how cancer could have taken this much-loved man so soon.
But grief is the last thing that Joe’s daughter Ciara and step-daughter Heidi feel. For they knew the real Joe – the man who was supposed to protect them and did anything but.
As the mourners gather, the police do too, with doubt being cast over whether Joe’s death was due to natural causes. Because the lies that Joe told won’t be taken to the grave after all – and the truth gives his daughters the best possible motive for killing him…
Joe McKee is popular in his Derry community. He is also dead.
Arrangements are being made for his traditional funeral. He is being remembered as a nice man and the grief is felt strongly amongst friends and family.
For his daughter, Ciara and his step daughter, Heidi however, there is a whole different set of feelings. They both hold a secret that could pull the whole family apart.
Not long after Joe’s death, the police arrive. They don’t believe Joe’s terminal cancer killed him.
The horrible truth will emerge and the people with the strongest motive to kill him… are his daughters.
The Liar’s Daughter is told from the point of view of Joe, Heidi and Ciara. I found the structure of this novel compelling. I loved how it was told in both the present with flashback chapters to the past. It really gave the plot a chance to develop whilst keeping a terrific pace and a sense of suspense and building tension.
by Book Review: Taking a Chance on Love by Erin Green
One question can change everything.
Meet Carmen, Polly and Dana – all happy and successful women, with very different views on relationships.
Carmen has made a life with Elliot for the past eight years. She’s ready for the next step but a proposal seems to be as far away as ever.
Polly is devoted to her family. But after her parents’ bitter divorce, she’s wary of marriage – even after sharing twenty years and one son with Fraser.
Single mother Dana longs for companionship, despite her dedication to raising her son Luke. Finding the right person to bring into their lives feels impossible – until a unique way to select a potential Mr Right comes along.
With 29th February fast approaching, will they each take the chance this Leap Year to take control of their fates?
The perfect feel-good book for a Leap-Year; albeit, with a twist.
This is the tale of three women, Carmen, Polly and Dana, all with different expectations on their relationships with their men.
We are taken on a roller-coaster of a ride with all having to endure unexpected complications along their journeys.
by Book Review: Liar Liar by Mel Sherratt
Hello to Mel Sherratt and the blog tour for her latest novel, Liar Liar, released on eBook by Avon on 10th February.
The truth can be a dangerous thing…
When a young boy falls from a balcony in a block of flats, DS Grace Allendale witnesses the shocking aftermath of the tragic event. But strangely, no one will admit to seeing anything – and the parents will only tell the police that it was an accident.
Determined to sort the truth from the lies, Grace is thrown into a case that takes her to the darkest corners of the criminal world – and strikes closer to home than she could have ever imagined…
Liar Liar is the third novel in the DS Grace Allendale series.
Grace witnesses the aftermath of a tragic event. A young boy has fallen from the balcony at a block of flats.
No one will admit they saw anything. The parents are saying it was an accident. The evidence says different.
Can Grace find the truth as she’s one again thrown into the darkest corners of the criminal underworld?
Welcome back Mel!
It was so good to be back with Grace. She has become one of my favourite fictional detectives. There is something real about her. I get the feeling that there is so much about her we still don’t know. She has many layers and I look forward to discovering more (please let there be more, Mel.)
This is the third book in the series but it can be read as a standalone. I do recommend the first two books though (Hush Hush and Tick Tock.) They are excellent.
This book deals with some heavy themes, including a crime against a child but it does it with compassion.
The tension builds incredibly well as breadcrumbs are left all the way through the plot to the unseen conclusion.
by Book Review: Make or Break at the Lighthouse B&B by Portia MacIntosh
Hello to Portia MacIntosh and the blog tour for her latest novel, Make or Break at the Lighthouse B&B which is due to be released on eBook by HQ Digital on 14th February.
Thirty-one-year-old matchmaker Lola James had it all – until she broke her leg at a wedding and discovered that her so-called ‘best friend’ was suddenly too busy to call, her flat had far too many steps, and her boyfriend replaced her quicker than you can say ‘crutches’.
And so she’s back at her parents’ B&B, sleeping in the living room (she can’t get upstairs) and having her hair washed by her mum (she can’t get in the shower).
Freshly single and with a lot of time on her hands, Lola is only too pleased to run into gorgeous Dr Will, an old friend who has definitely improved with age… And then there’s Dean, a divorcé who’s convinced he’s better off alone – no matter how lonely he is.
Can Will help mend Lola’s broken heart as well as her leg? Can she help Dean find love? As a wise man once said, sometimes the one for you is right under your nose, all along…
Lola James has the perfect life. She’s a matchmaker for celebrities, has the handsome boyfriend and she’s about to be a bridesmaid to her very glamorous friend.
However, when she breaks her leg, her boyfriend suddenly has better things to do, her friend is angry at Lola for supposedly stealing her wedding thunder and her boss tells her that, with a cast, she is not the right image for the job.
Just like that, she finds herself back in Marran Bay, back in her childhood home – The Lighthouse B&B.
As she re-acquaints herself with childhood friends, she is trying to figure out what to do next. Could a new life and love be closer than she thinks?
I immediately warmed to Lola. She wasn’t like the characters around her at the beginning of the book.
I think we’ve all had moments where we are not sure what to do next and Lola is definitely having one of those moments. I could really empathise with that.
I want to go to Marran Bay. It sounds beautiful. I also love the idea of a B&B attached to a lighthouse. It reminded me of the Portland Bay lighthouse I used to visit as a child.
by Audiobook Review: The Wives by Tarryn Fisher
You’ve never met the other wives. None of you know each other, you see your husband only one day a week. Thursday. But you don’t care, you love him that much. Or at least that’s what you’ve told yourself…
And then, one day it all changes.
You thought you were fine with this, with only having a fraction of a husband. But you can’t help yourself, you start to dig. Begin tracking them down, the other days… Who is Monday and why does she have bruises on her arms? Is she being abused? By who? Her husband? Your husband?
What else is he keeping from you?
And who is he, really?
I was delighted to be invited onto the Audio tour for The Wives, the new thriller by Tarryn Fisher.
Thursday only gets to see her husband one day a week. She’s never met her husband’s other wives but she loves her husband. That’s what she’s told herself.
However, Thursday can’t help it. She starts tracking down the other wives. Who is Monday and where did the bruises on her arm come from?
What is her husband keeping from her? Who is he?
Our main character is Thursday, so named because her husband has two other wives and Thursday is the day she gets to see her husband, Seth.
The wives are allowed no communications with each other. That’s the rule.
Curiosity however gets the better of Thursday and her quest to find out more about the other wives sends her down a dark path.
I was lucky enough to be provided with an audio book copy for review and it added an additional aspect to the tension that builds up really well within the novel. Lauren Fortgang narrates this book so well. On the one occasion where I wasn’t able to use the audiobook copy and switched to my kindle, I found myself not reading very far and going back to the audiobook when I could. Lauren and Tarryn’s writing are a great combination.
The atmosphere in this novel is very chilling. I couldn’t figure out where this book was going to go and when I begin, I really couldn’t predict the twists the story was going to take. The plot is unlike any other books I have read in this genre.
by Book Review: All The Rage by Cara Hunter
A girl is taken from the streets of Oxford. But it’s unlike any abduction DI Fawley’s seen before . . .
Faith Appleford was attacked, a plastic bag tied over her head, taken to an isolated location . . . and then, by some miracle, she escaped.
What’s more, when DC Erica Somer interviews Faith, she quickly becomes convinced that Faith knows who her abductor is.
Yet Faith refuses to press charges.
Without more evidence, it’s looking like the police may have to drop the case.
But what happens if Faith’s attacker strikes again?
I was very excited to be invited to take part in the blog tour for All The Rage, the latest book from Cara Hunter.
A girl is found in a state, walking along the side of the road. It is obvious she has been attacked.
DI Adam Fawley and his team have little to go on, especially as the victim doesn’t want to press charges.
When a second girl disappears, Adam knows time is short.
This story really played on my fears. I did creep myself out whilst reading, jumping at little noises.
Cara Hunter is becoming one of my favourite authors in this genre.
This story did have a slightly different feel than the others I’ve read but in my opinion, that wasn’t a bad thing.
by Book Review: Little Boy Lost by J.P. Carter
One early October afternoon, ten-year-old Jacob Rossi begins the short walk home from school. But he never makes it.
Days later, DCI Anna Tate is called to the scene of a burning building, where an awful discovery has been made. A body has been found, and the label in his school blazer reads: J. Rossi.
As Anna starts digging, she soon learns that a lot of people had grudges against the boy’s father. But would any of them go so far as to take his son?
And is the boy’s abductor closer than she thinks?
I was excited to be invited onto the blog tour for Little Boy Lost, the latest novel by J.P. Carter.
Little Boy Lost begins when the wife of a suspected drug dealer is shot dead in a Police raid. When this event sparks riots all over London, DCI Anna Tate know she’s in for a long few nights.
It doesn’t take long until the riots begin to claim their victims including schoolboy Jacob Rossi.
However, he may have been accidentally killed but his presence in the cellar of a derelict pub is far from an accident and Anna and her team find themselves battling to bring both the abductor and arsonist to justice, before it’s too late.
I knew from the first few sentences that I was going to like this novel. It immediately puts the reader into the heart of the action. It also doesn’t shy away from gritty plot lines, all equally sad and compelling.
by Book Extract: The Beach House by P.R. Black
I am happy to be part of the blog tour for The Beach House, the latest novel from P.R. Black.
This vacation is about to turn deadly…
Cora’s on the island vacation of her dreams: a private beach in paradise, a romantic proposal, and an eight-figure cheque following the sale of her new fiancé’s business.
When their island turns out to be not so private after all, Cora tries to make the best of a bad situation by inviting their strangely friendly neighbours to celebrate with them.
But it doesn’t take long for her once-in-a-lifetime holiday to take a very sinister turn…
P.R. Black and Aria have shared an extract today.
***** beginning of extract*****
Once the call was over, Jonathan dropped the phone onto the sand. He grinned, slipping on a pair of shorts he’d discarded by the side of the beach chair the night before. ‘Now you believe me?’
‘I’m not sure I do… This is incredible. What happens now?’
‘How about everything you’ve ever wanted?’
‘The amount of money… it’s a dream, but my God. The responsibility.’ She drew a hand through her tight black curls. ‘It’s a great thing. But a terrible thing.’
‘Yeah, I know. With absolute power, comes great, whatever. Spider-Man. Uncle Ben. Loved that movie. The Tobey Maguire one, I mean. Real Spider-Man.’
‘I’m serious. And what if we get kidnapped?’
‘Kidnapped!’ Jonathan spluttered. ‘Bit presumptuous. The money’s only just gone in the bank!’
‘It happens – you hear about it all the time. It happens to millionaires, it’s common. They get targeted. For cars, or ransom demands. They capture their kids, their wives. We’ll need security guards… and cameras… or a really big dog.’
‘How about a tyrannosaur? We could afford one of those. We’ll need a really big doghouse. Come to think of it, we’ll need a big house of our own. You always wanted a swimming pool, right?’
She giggled. ‘Is this actually happening?’
He nodded and bit his lip. ‘Are you pleased? Tell me you’re pleased.’
She paused. ‘We have to do something good with it.’
by Book Review: Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano
One summer morning, a flight takes off from New York to Los Angeles.
There are 192 passengers aboard: among them a young woman taking a pregnancy test in the airplane toilet; a Wall Street millionaire flirting with the air hostess; an injured soldier returning from Afghanistan; and two beleaguered parents moving across the country with their adolescent sons, bickering over who gets the window seat. When the plane suddenly crashes in a field in Colorado, the younger of these boys, 12-year-old Edward Adler, is the sole survivor.
Dear Edward depicts Edward’s life in the crash’s aftermath as he struggles to make sense of the meaning of his survival, the strangeness of his sudden fame, and find his place in the world without his family. In his new home with his aunt and uncle, the only solace comes from his friendship with the girl next door, Shay. Together Edward and Shay make a startling discovery: hidden in his uncle’s garage are sacks of letters from the relatives of the other passengers, addressed to Edward.
As Edward comes of age against the backdrop of sudden tragedy, he must confront some of life’s most profound questions: how do we make the most of the time we are given? And what does it mean not just to survive, but to truly live?
I am very happy to be part of the blog tour for Dear Edward, the latest novel from Ann Napolitano.
Dear Edward is the story of Edward who is a sole survivor of a plane crash that claims the lives of his parents and older brother. Now living with his Auntie and Uncle, this twelve-year-old is having adjust to life that is so different to everything he’s ever known whilst being in the spotlight post plane crash.
Dear Edward is unlike any novel I’ve ever read. You know when you pick up a book and just from the blurb on the back of the novel you know that you’re going to like it/get a lot from it? This book was an example of that for me.
Set between the events prior to the crash and the aftermath, it is so much more than how one boy deals with it.
This book is beautifully written. I found Edward’s story pre-crash interesting. He, as well as John and Lacey, are incredibly brave and complex people.
by Book Review: A Messy Affair by Elizabeth Mundy
The only way is murder…
Lena Szarka, a Hungarian cleaner working in London, is forced to brush up on her detective skills for a third time when her cousin Sarika is plunged into danger.
Sarika and her reality TV star boyfriend Terry both receive threatening notes. When Terry stops calling, Lena assumes he’s lost interest. Until he turns up. Dead. Lena knows she must act fast to keep her cousin from the same fate.
Scrubbing her way through the grubby world of reality television, online dating and betrayed lovers, Lena finds it harder than she thought to discern what’s real – and what’s just for the cameras.
I am very happy to be involved in the blog tour for A Messy Affair by Elizabeth Mundy.
Lena is an Hungarian cleaner who works in London. She uses the cover of her job to solve the murder of reality TV star, Terry Tibbs.
Whilst trying to figure out who killed Terry and keep her cousin safe, she’s struggling to determine what is real and what was for the cameras.
I had not read any of the previous books in the series but this didn’t seem to matter. I didn’t feel that I was playing catch up.
Lena is a feisty character and I immediately liked her. The supporting characters were all intriguing too.
Reality TV plays a big part in the plot along with revenge, obsession and murder. It’s a good study at how reality TV is blurring the lines between what is real and fiction and like Lena, I was desperate to find out what was what.
by Book Review: Right Behind You by Rachel Abbott
Jo Palmer’s peaceful and happy life is about to end.
Ash – the man she loves – will be arrested by the police.
Millie – her precious daughter – will be taken from her.
She will lose her friends.
She will doubt her sanity.
Someone is stealing everything Jo loves, and will stop at nothing.
But right now, Jo is laughing in her kitchen, eating dinner with her family, suspecting nothing.
It’s raining outside.
There’s a knock at the door. They are here.
When the police show up at Jo’s door saying they are arresting her partner, Ash, she doesn’t know what to think.
When Social Services are not that far behind, saying that they want to take her daughter, Millie due to complaints of abuse, Jo very reluctantly agrees when she thinks she has no choice.
When it becomes clear that things are not what they seem, Jo becomes frantic.
DCI Tom Douglas and DI Becky Robinson are back and they vow to help her but with Jo questioning which people she can trust, she doesn’t know whether she will see Ash and her daughter again.
I am always so happy when Tom and Becky come back again. They are one of my favourite crime fighting duos and I was intrigued to see what came next.
I don’t know what it is about these novels but I devour them. I race through them because I can’t stop reading and then I have such a book hangover once I’ve finished. Rachel Abbott has such a way of writing a compelling thriller and this book, like the others, did not disappoint.
Some of Jo’s decisions are questionable but overall, I felt sorry for her.
by NK Chats To… Paul Nicholls
Hello Paul. It’s lovely to be welcoming you to Novel Kicks today. Can you tell me a bit about your book, The Magical Secret of the Crystal Kingdom and what inspired the story?
It’s a children’s portal fantasy novel along the same lines as The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe which was one of my favourite books growing up. It’s about a group of children who find a collection of crystals buried in a cave in the woods.
They take the crystals back to the house that they are staying in and that night they are transported into another world made of crystals and inhabited by magical talking animals. The female protagonist Rose is transformed into a pink horse and is separated from all of the other children who also think that they are alone there and are also transformed into magical animals.
One by one the children start realise that this world is at war and has been for a long time and that it is down to them to save it. It is a story of love and hope and believing in yourself.
What were the challenges you faced when writing?
Keeping track of the characters! I always knew from the start that I wanted to create a world into which both the characters and the readers can escape into. By creating another world it was inevitable that the children were going to meet lots of characters along the way.
Also, for the purposes of relating a deeper meaning to certain aspects of the story I knew that I needed to have seven friends who go into the crystal kingdom together.
What’s your writing process like from first idea to final draft, where do you like to write and do you have any writing rituals?
I did initially start with an outline or more accurately a headline for each chapter but as I started to write I realised that the characters and the story took on a life of its own and that so much just happened spontaneously that was never in my original plan.
I write at my desk at home and normally just write on a Friday morning to get me going. However once I’ve really got going I tend to write at all different times.
What’s your favourite word and why?
I think Enchanting is my favourite word it just sounds exciting and amazing and wonderful all at the same time.
Which book made the most impact on you as a child?
by Book Review: Make Do and Mend a Broken Heart by Katey Lovell
When you know how, you can make anything from scratch, including a new life after love…
When Leanne and Richard bought a dilapidated old seaside cottage to renovate together as their forever home, their future was full of hope and promise.
But heartbreak was just around the corner: fast forward a few months and Richard is gone. With his death, Leanne finds herself stony broke, faced with an uninhabitable home and lacking even the basic skills to do it up herself.
With the help of the friendly woman who runs the library and the reluctant assistance of the man who works in the local hardware shop, the cottage is lovingly restored. But broken hearts aren’t so easy to fix… are they?
I was so excited to be part of the blog blast for Make Do and Mend a Broken Heart by Katey Lovell.
When Leanne and Richard buy Sea Glass Cottage, they can’t wait to begin the new chapter of their lives and start renovating their new house by the seaside. When Richard dies before they have a chance to realise their dream, Leanne decides to go it alone.
She soon finds that the residents of Rockgate Bay pull together for her, especially the handsome, Harry. Can they help mend her broken heart?
First of all, can I move to Rockgate Bay please? Having grown up near the sea, this book really made me miss it so much.
The town sounds so wonderful (the setting is described so well,) as does most of the residents. There are a couple of them I didn’t care for. If you read it, you’ll see what I mean.
I loved Mary and Harry. Oh Harry Also, can I steal Milo?
Leanne was very easy to love. She’s been through a lot. I wanted to reach into the page and give her a hug.
She shows such strength as a character. She is well-developed and to me, she jumped off the page.
Katey Lovell’s style of writing made this novel hard to put down for me.
by Book Review: Snowflakes and Sparks by Sophie-Leigh Robbins
One small town. One swoon-worthy neighbor. One second chance at love.
Old Pine Cove is the one place on earth Suzie swore she’d never return to, but then her boss asks her to manage one of their bookstores there. Since it’s only temporary, she agrees. Besides, what could possibly go wrong?
Gosh, how naïve of her.
Alex Denverton opening the door with that smoldering look of his, that’s what could go wrong. It’s been ten years since she broke his car and his heart. How is she supposed to focus on work knowing he’s right next door? And why did she even agree to organize the annual Winter Walk with him?
One thing is certain, though. If Suzie wants to have a magical Christmas, she can’t ask Santa to make it happen. It’s up to her to decide: go big or go home.
Snowflakes and Sparks focuses on Suzie. Living in LA, working in a bookshop and hoping for promotion, she didn’t think she would ever return to the small town of Old Pine Cove but it’s where she finds herself, just before Christmas, managing the bookshop there.
She has not been in town long when she sees Alex. She’s not seen him since she left and broke his heart ten years earlier. He’s as gorgeous as she remembers and seems to have no anger toward her.
How was she supposed to concentrate with him next door? She has even said she’d help organise the winter walk with Alex. What could go wrong?
Snowflakes and Sparks was my introduction to Sophie-Leigh Robbins but it won’t be the last book of hers I read.
I read this at the beginning of December and it immediately put me in the festive mood.
I loved Suzie from the beginning. She is a very open, friendly and relatable character. I want to be her friend.
by Book Review: The Afternoon Tea Club by Jane Gilley
I am pleased to be welcoming Jane Gilley and the blog tour for her latest book, The Afternoon Tea Club.
Marjorie, Stacy, Raymond and Dora each hold a different story to their chest – lost loves, abandoned dreams, crippling self-confidence issues, and simply feeling invisible. For each of them, the thought of letting those stories out is almost as terrifying as letting strangers in, and that makes for a very lonely life indeed.
But when these four strangers who have struggled to “fit in” end up on the same table for an event at their local community centre, little do they know that their lives are about to be entwined and changed forever because of an Afternoon Tea club.
Cue an unexpected journey of self-discovery, some unlikely new companions, and plenty of tea and biscuits along the way…
This novel had me at the title. Tea is one of my favourite things. There’s a lot more to it than that though.
The Afternoon Tea Club focuses on Marjorie, Dora, Raymond and Stacy.
All vary in ages but all are harbouring their own secrets and insecurities. These four characters are also lonely in their own ways.
When The Afternoon Tea Club is announced in their local area, each of our main characters goes although some are more reluctant than others. Dora, Raymond, Marjorie and Stacy are four unique characters who have more in common than they realise. I don’t want to say too much about the plot because, as normal, I hope you will decide to discover this book.
Marjorie carries a lot of learned behaviour and has much emotional baggage tied into the relationship with her husband.
Dora also has a lot of hurt from her past and it’s been something she’s been running from for a long time.
Raymond is probably one of the sweetest fictional characters I have come across. He’s a simple man who is still in love with his wife ever after her death.
Stacy is missing so many aspects of love from her life and she almost has to hit rock bottom to find herself again.
I think out of all of the characters, I related to Stacy the most. She and I don’t share life experiences but there was just something about her. Although, I think she may be a little braver than me.
by Book Review: Eve’s Christmas by Julie Butterfield
Working for a department store where Christmas arrives in August, Eve prefers her own festivities to be low key with nothing more complicated than an oven ready turkey and frozen peas while she spends the day in her pyjamas. Unfortunately, this year her husband has invited his best friend to visit, the glamorous and sophisticated Abby, and Eve reluctantly decides that she needs to inject a little sparkle into their laid back and slightly shabby Christmas.
So the celebrations are upgraded to include champagne and canapes along with homemade gravy and organic turkey and plans are made for a Christmas that looks as though it has emerged from the pages of a glossy magazine.
But even the best laid plans can go wrong and as Eve struggles with her mini Yorkshire puddings and an interfering cat, she is suddenly faced with an unexpected guest and an explosive secret that threatens to put her vision of a perfect Christmas in jeopardy.
Eve prefers the quiet life at Christmas especially as working in a department store means that the festive season arrives in summer.
This year though, she has to trade her PJ’s and minimum efforts for all out glamour and perfection when her husband announces that his best friend, Abby is coming to stay for twelve days over Christmas.
Her home is soon covered with pages ripped out of magazines, pages of notes and failed cooking attempts as Eve becomes slightly obsessed with making everything perfect. She is surrounded by an excited youngest daughter, an eldest daughter who doesn’t waste a chance to remind her of the amount of waste generated over Christmas and a confused husband but she gets tunnel vision and is soon even redecorating the spare room in anticipation of Abby’s arrival.
I had a mixture of sympathy and annoyance toward Eve at the beginning of the book as I had a feeling it was not going to go as planned.
by Audiobook Review: Murders of Old China by Paul French
One country rich in history, 12 unsolved murders. Reopening the archives on China’s long forgotten past.
Why did a remote police station, built to combat pirates, find itself at the centre of a murder-suicide after a constable went on the rampage? How did Chinese gangsters avoid conviction after serving a deadly dinner to Frenchtown’s elite? And why is the Foreign Office still withholding a key document to solving a murder that took place in the Gobi desert in 1935?
By delving deep into 12 of China’s most fascinating murder cases, Murders of Old China delivers a fast-paced journey through China’s early 20th-century history – including its criminal underbelly.
Uncovering previously unknown connections and exposing the lies, Paul French queries the verdict of some of China’s most controversial cases, interweaving true crime with China’s chaotic and complicated history of foreign occupation and Chinese rival factions.
I rarely feature non-fiction on Novel Kicks but when I was asked if I wanted to take part in the blog tour for Murders of Old China and read about the premise, I jumped at the chance.
Murders of Old China is an Audible original and is narrated by the author, Paul French. He looks at twelve murder cases that happened in China in the early 20th century.
Each chapter focuses on a different case and even though it’s non-fiction, it felt that I could have been reading a fictional murder mystery novel. Some of it was almost unbelievable.
The mystery and the twists and turns in these cases appealed to my love of puzzles and history.
This has made me want to know as much as possible about this era that I have previously not known anything about.
by Novel Kicks Book Club: Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn
Hello December. I am excited as this is my favourite time of the year.
The trees and lights are going up and the cold weather has certainly arrived so there is no better reason to curl up with a cup/glass of something and a book (I know I say this every month,) and I am hoping you’ll join me with reading this month’s book club.
I’ve chosen Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn.
This book sounds like a lot of fun and has an interesting premise. As normal, I have posted a question to kick off the discussion. Hopefully see you in the comments.
About Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares.
I’ve left some clues for you. If you want them, turn the page. If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.
At the urge of her lucky-in-love brother, sixteen-year-old Lily has left a red notebook full of dares on her favourite bookshop shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept. Curious, snarky Dash isn’t one to back down from a challenge – and the Book of Dares is the perfect distraction he’s been looking for.
As they send each other on a scavenger hunt across Manhattan, they’re falling for each other on paper. But finding out if their real selves share their on-page chemistry could be their biggest dare yet….
by Book Review: It’s Not PMS, It’s You by Rich Amooi
Hello to Rich Amooi and the blog tour for his novel, It’s Not PMS, It’s You. Welcome, Rich.
Ruth “Ruthless” Harper is on the verge of becoming managing partner at her all-male consulting firm and she won’t let anything stand in her way. That includes men, relationships, and that dreaded F word, FEELINGS—distractions she eliminated long ago.
After the worst day ever (a near-death experience and a public wedgie, for starters), Ruth realizes she doesn’t want to live and die alone. She puts together a business plan to find the perfect man and dives head first into the murky online dating pool. All she wants is a high-powered executive who understands how important her career is. If only it were that easy.
Problem is most men are intimidated by Ruth’s confidence and shocked by her bluntness. The exception being her landscape designer, Nick, whose cool demeanor and unsolicited dating advice are driving her nuts. He’s the antithesis of the business-oriented man Ruth envisions for herself, so why do all signs keep pointing back to him?
Ruth is a workaholic and has been too busy for love. She’s about to become a managing partner in her all-male consulting firm and she is not going to let anything stand in her way.
However, after experiencing the worst day which includes a near death experience and a public wedgie, she makes a plan to meet the perfect man. She doesn’t want to end up alone.
Nick, who Ruth has employed as a landscape gardener isn’t intimidated by her confidence or bluntness.
Can Ruth’s perfect man be closer than she thinks?
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. From the first chapter however, I knew it was going to be a book I was going to love. I couldn’t put it down. I mean, the title alone is brilliant.
Ruth is a funny, real, relatable character who doesn’t apologise for who she is and knowing what she wants.
by Book Review: The Perfect Widow by A.M. Castle
I’d like to welcome A.M. Castle to Novel Kicks today and the blog tour for her novel, The Perfect Widow.
Louise Bridges has the perfect life.
A loving husband, Patrick. Two adorable children. A comfortable home.
So when PC Becca Holt arrives to break the news that Patrick has been killed in an accident, she thinks Louise’s perfect world is about to collapse around her.
But Louise doesn’t react in the way Becca would expect her to on hearing of her husband’s death. And there are only three plates set out for dinner, as if Louise already knew Patrick wouldn’t be home that night…
The more Becca digs, the more secrets she uncovers in the Bridges’ marriage – and the more she wonders just how far Louise would go to get what she wants…
Is Louise a loving wife – or a cold-hearted killer?
Louise Bridges has the perfect life. She has the husband, two wonderful children, the house, the car and the lifestyle many would and do envy.
When the police arrive to tell Louise that her husband is dead, her veneer doesn’t falter.
Becca, who works for the police sees something strange in Louise’s behaviour. What starts as curiosity turns into obsession as she tries to prove whether Louise is just grieving or whether she murdered her own husband.
This isn’t a normal crime whodunnit. It’s unique in its set up and it’s unlike anything I have read, especially in this genre.
It’s told from a ‘then and now’ structure with a POV from both Louise and Becca. I liked this as it gave me an insight into each of their motivations and character.
Louise is a character I tried to empathise with but I found this hard to do. However, I don’t think I was meant to like her and I needed to question her motives and decisions. It was like she was set up to put the reader on edge and this added to the tension throughout the novel. I loved this aspect. Although I didn’t like her, I wanted to understand her and that made me want to keep reading and for this reason, I think she was very well-developed.
Becca is a character I found to be quite a sad and lonely woman; similar to Louise really. Becca sees work as a way to fill her life and escape her reality. Both in their own way are seeking validation.
by Book Review: Snowdrops on Rosemary Lane by Ellen Berry
I am pleased to be welcoming Ellen Berry and the blog tour for her new novel, Snowdrops on Rosemary Lane.
Last winter she had a plan.
Lucy fell in love with tumbledown Rosemary Cottage as a child. So thirty years on, when she loses her city job and discovers the cottage is for sale, it feels like fate. She’ll raise her children in Burley Bridge and transform the cottage into a B&B with her husband.
But a year can change everything . . .
Now Lucy is juggling two children and a B&B, but on her own. Christmas looks set to be their last on Rosemary Lane – until she meets James, a face from her past and someone who might offer a different kind of future . . .
Should Lucy leave the cottage behind? Or could this winter on Rosemary Lane be the start of something new?
I am not crying, I have something in my eye…. OK, I am crying.
It was hard not to reach for the tissues with the latest book by Ellen Berry.
It focuses on Lucy, who after losing her job in Manchester, makes the decision with her husband Ivan to move to the picturesque village of Burley Bridge. It is not all plain sailing for Lucy and her family and there are many ups and downs along the way. Lucy wonders whether Rosemary Cottage is her forever home after all?
It’s not hard to feel love and empathy for Lucy especially as things happen for her pretty early on in the novel.
James, like Lucy is dealing with issues that I think a lot of people would be able to relate to. He and Lucy have many layers to them. I liked them both a lot.
by Book Review: The Rector’s Daughter by Jean Fullerton
The Rector’s Daughter is the latest novel from Jean Fullerton and I am happy to be welcoming her blog tour to Novel Kicks today.
Charlotte is the daughter of Reverend Percival Hatton. She’s been ok to follow the path set out for her. She’s happy to help the poorer people of the parish (much to her father’s annoyance.)
She also has an understanding with Captain Nicholas Paget who she is expected to marry.
Everything in Charlotte’s world changes when she meets Josiah Martyn.
Josiah is in the area to help build the first tunnel under the River Thames. He’s an ambitious, Cornish mining engineer and he is the complete opposite to Nicholas. He is not at all the man the Reverend wants for his daughter.
Josiah and Charlotte grow closer. Can they defy the odds against them and have their happy ever after?
The Rector’s Daughter is, I am ashamed to admit, the first novel I have read by Jean Fullerton.
Charlotte is a character I warmed to straight away. She is a good person, who, in and out of love, is having to fight against the expectation of her class and gender.
Josiah is such a likeable, honourable leading man and I like the idea of him and Charlotte together. Whether they do make it, I hope you find out for yourself by reading the novel.
The supporting characters are a mixture of wonderful and outright horrible. Some I wanted to throw in a cupboard and throw away the key. Haha.
by Book Review: A Convenient Marriage by Jeevani Charika
Chaya is a young woman torn between her duty to family and her life in the UK. While her traditional Sri Lankan parents want her to settle down into marriage, what they don’t know is that Chaya has turned away the one true love of her life, Noah, terrified of their disapproval.
Gimhana is hiding his sexuality from his family. It’s easy enough to pretend he’s straight when he lives half a world away in the UK. But it’s getting harder and harder to turn down the potential brides his parents keep finding
for him.
When Chaya and Gimhana meet, a marriage of convenience seems like the perfect solution to their problems. Together they have everything – friendship, stability and their parents’ approval. But when both Chaya and Gimhana find themselves falling in love outside of their marriage, they’re left with an impossible decision – risk everything they’ve built together, or finally follow
their heart?
Will they choose love, or carry on living a lie?
Featuring a subject that is obviously close to the heart of the author, ‘A Convenient Marriage’ has, at its centre, two main themes; arranged marriages and a couple of LGBT characters.
Let’s get the wee bit about the story out of the way (for more details…buy the book!)
Getting married to satisfy the expectations of family and society, Gim and Chaya are two of the most satisfying, realistic characters I’ve come across for a good while. The way the author has drawn them and the culture they come from really touched me.
This is a novel where the power of culture and family are central to all that’s wrong with large parts of some societies and because of that, all down to this readers upbringing, I did find that a little hard to understand. However, in the end, this is a novel about friendship and all that should be important.
by Book Review: Starlight Over Bluebell Castle by Sarah Bennett
Hello to Sarah Bennett and the blog tour for her latest novel, Starlight Over Bluebell Castle.
Jessica Ridley’s life has just been turned upside-down – and not in a good way! So when blast-from-the-past Tristan Ludworth invites her to stay at Bluebell Castle and transform it into a winter wonderland, it’s the perfect distraction for Jess and her two young children…
Jess is used to planning even the most elaborate events in her sleep, but she certainly didn’t expect to be working so closely with Tristan at the castle – or that she could still find him quite so handsome after all this time!
And with a little holiday magic in the air, it’s becoming harder and harder to resist his charms. Can Tristan convince Jess to give love one more chance, just in time for Christmas?
Jess is on the up and up with her job. She also has a huge crush on her colleague, Tristan. Then, when they are on the verge of taking things beyond flirting, Jess leaves and both their lives take different directions.
Years later and Tristan and Jess’s paths cross again. Tristan has left London and returned to Bluebell Castle to help run his family estate. When he finds out that Jess’s marriage has ended and she needs a job and sanctuary for herself and her two boys, he offers Jess a job.
by Book Review: Until We Meet Again by Rosemary Goodacre
I’m welcoming Rosemary Goodacre to Novel Kicks today and the blog tour for her novel, Until We Meet Again.
Summer 1914: Shy young woman, Amy Fletcher, lives a quiet life in Sussex. An office worker, she lives at home, along with her parents and spirited younger brother, Bertie. But her life is transformed when she meets handsome young man, Edmond Derwent, son of one of the wealthiest families in the small town of Larchbury, and student at Cambridge University.
The couple are falling deeply in love when war breaks out and, eager to do his duty for England, Edmond signs up as an officer. The couple plan to be wed, eager to start a new life together – but their happiness is short-lived when Edmond is sent to Flanders to lead his men into battle. Amy trains as a VAD nurse and is soon sent to France, where she sees the true horror of war inflicted on the brave young men sent to fight.
Separated by war, Edmond and Amy share their feelings through emotional letters sent from the front line. But when Edmond is critically wounded at Ypres, their love faces the biggest test of all – can their love stay strong while the world around them is crumbling?
In Summer 1914, Amy Fletcher lives with her family in Sussex.
When she meets Edmond Derwent, her life is transformed forever when she falls in love with him.
The couple plan to marry but when war breaks out, Edmond is sent to Flanders after he signs up as an officer. He wants to do his duty to England.
Amy then trains as a VAD nurse and is also sent over to France where she sees the horror of war first hand.
Separated by WWI, can Amy and Edmond’s love survive?
This book mostly focuses on Amy with chapters from Edmond’s point of view also. This really helped to get an overall view of what it was like for the soldiers in WWI and the people left behind.
Immediately, I liked Amy. At the beginning of the book, she shows great integrity and loyalty to her friends and family and I loved that.
by Book Review: The Last Day of Winter by Shari Low
It’s a pleasure to be welcoming Shari Low back to Novel Kicks with the blog tour for her novel, The Last Day of Winter.
One December wedding. One runaway bride. One winter’s day to bring everyone together again.
Today is the day Caro and Cammy are due to walk up the aisle. But Caro’s too caught up in the trauma of her past to contemplate their happy ever after.
Stacey’s decision to return from L.A. is fuelled by one thing – telling Cammy how she feels, before it’s too late.
Wedding planner, Josie, needs to sort the whole mess out, but she’s just been dealt some devastating news. Can she get through the day without spilling her secret?
On a chilly winter’s day, they have twenty-four hours to prove that love can lead the way to a brighter future…
The Last Day of Winter focuses on an ensemble of characters on a day just before Christmas. On the day Caro and Cammy are meant to go down the aisle, Caro’s past makes her doubt that this is her happy ever after.
The fate of the wedding is further put into question when Stacey returns to LA to tell Cammy how she feels about him.
Josie, the wedding planner needs to sort this out despite being given some devastating news.
Can love find its way within these 24 hours?
Shari, you made me cry again! I am not too proud to admit it either.
Oh, this novel.
First, the amazing characters. Each of them have their own, complicated feelings. All were developed well and nothing with any of them was black and white. Even where Caro is concerned, I felt enormous sympathy and empathy. This is a terrific ensemble of different personalities and they all fit together so well.
Plot wise, a lot is placed within the 24 hours in which it’s set but nothing feels rushed. The description of Glasgow sounds so incredible and it’s set at Christmas so it gave me all the early festive feels.
by Book Review: The Christmas Calendar Girls by Samantha Tonge
Samantha Tonge has dropped by today with the blog tour for her new novel, The Christmas Calendar Girls.
Christmas is meant to be a time of giving, so with Chesterwood food bank under risk of closure Fern knows just what to do to save it. She’s going to get the town to create a living advent calendar.
Fern, and her best friends, call for help from the local community to bring this calendar to life. When Kit, the new man in town, offers his assistance Fern’s heart can’t help but skip a beat (or two).
As they grow ever closer, Fern must admit that Kit’s breaking down the barriers she built after the death of her husband. But his past is holding him back and Fern doesn’t know how to reach him. No matter how hard she tries.
In this town, Kit’s not the only one with secrets. Domestic goddess Cara is behaving oddly, burning meals in the oven and clothes whilst ironing, and Davina’s perfect children are causing trouble at school leaving her son, Jasper, desperately unhappy.
Can the Christmas Calendar Girls find a way to bring the community together in time to save the food bank, while still supporting their families and each other? Can Fern find love again with Kit?
Chesterwood Food Bank is under threat of close and Fern has come up with what she thinks is the perfect plan to save it. A living advent calendar. With the help of her best friends, Cara and Davina, she begins to put her idea into motion.
She is also getting closer to Kit who is the temporary caretaker at her daughter’s school and the only man to get close to her after the death of her husband, Adam.
However, Kit has a secret and it is holding him back.
One of Davina’s son’s is acting strangely and the other is deeply unhappy. Domestic goddess Cara is starting to forget things. Can the three of them pull together and make it a perfect Christmas by saving the food bank?
The Christmas Calendar Girls is everything I love in a Christmas novel.
The idea of a living advent calendar sounds brilliant and makes this Christmas lover want to see something like this for real. As the story progressed, I couldn’t help but feel more and more festive.
by Book Review: The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
In a large house in London’s fashionable Chelsea, a baby is awake in her cot. Well-fed and cared for, she is happily waiting for someone to pick her up.
In the kitchen lie three decomposing corpses. Close to them is a hastily scrawled note.
They’ve been dead for several days.
Who has been looking after the baby?
And where did they go?
Two entangled families.
A house with the darkest of secrets.
Libby has just inherited a house on one of the most exclusive streets in Chelsea. She is only focused on one thing once she gets into the house and this is to find out anything she can about the family she never knew. However, sinister secrets lurk in the rooms of this abandoned house and Libby isn’t sure she is going to like what she finds.
I have loved the direction Lisa Jewell has taken her novels and so I was eager to read this one. To be honest, this one had me from the blurb on the back of the book.
Told from the point of view of Libby and Lucy in the present and Henry decades before, it does tend to jump around a bit but they all have such a distinct voice that I had no issue keeping up with whose point of view I was reading from.
This book really appealed to my love of mystery and it is present all the way through. Just when I thought I had sussed something out, another plot twist would happen. It is written so well and had me obsessed right until the end.
by Spotlight: Words & Kisses Subscription Box
Words & Kisses is a subscription service/online book club for people who like their books with happy endings.
I am a sucker for a happy ending. I am a proper romantic and I love subscription boxes so when I was approached by the lovely Amy at Words & Kisses about reviewing her book subscription box, she didn’t have to ask me twice.
My book arrived beautifully wrapped in pink tissue paper with a lovely note.
It was like Christmas had come early as I couldn’t help but tear the wrapping open to reveal the surprise inside.
I received The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai. One read of the description and it was clear the right choice had been made for me. It is a great way to discover novels you may not have read or picked up otherwise.
How it works is so simple. Visit wwww.wordsandkisses.com.
*Subscriptions are three months for £34.99, six months for £69.99 or a twelve month subscription for £139.00. Alternatively, you can pay a recurring monthly subscription of £11.99 if you want to try it out first. If you live in the UK, postage is included.
by Book Review: The Men by Fanny Calder
City life in the 1990s. Anonymous, intense, paradoxical and sometimes lonely.
A young, haunted woman falls in love with a singer. She finds she has been consumed by the relationship and when it ends – as it inevitably does – she feels unable to quite rediscover herself. Cities can draw you into even darker places, and she embarks on a series of intense relationships with thirteen men of very different types, from a rough sleeper to a millionaire, and from a transvestite to a leading politician.
As she is propelled through a series of extraordinary adventures and wild parties she finds she begins to lose her own identity. Is there a way out?
The Men by Fanny Calder focuses on an anonymous woman. She’s our narrator.
As the book begins, she is in a relationship with a singer. This ends in heartbreak. We then look at the thirteen subsequent relationships she has including one with a homeless man, a Politician and a Millionaire.
This is not a book I would have picked off a shelf and this is why I love running the Novel Kicks blog. It means books like this don’t pass me by.
The narrator gives the reader little glimpses into her relationship history and it doesn’t hold back whatsoever.
The character does have happy moments in her quest for romantic love but she is also insanely honest with her observations about these men, the world around her and her lack of fulfilment with love and life. It’s one of the things I liked most about this novel as well as the conversational writing style.
by Book Review: Reach For A Star by Kathryn Freeman
A lovely big welcome back to Kathryn Freeman. She is here today with the blog tour for her latest novel, Reach For a Star.
What if your dreams were so close you could reach out and touch them?
How could anyone resist Michael Tennant, with his hypnotic blue eyes and voice like molten chocolate? Jessie Simmons certainly can’t. But Jessie’s a single mum who can’t sing to save her life – there’s no way she’ll ever cross paths with the star tenor.
At least that’s what she thinks until she’s unexpectedly invited to take part in a new reality TV show. The premise? Professional singers teach hopeless amateurs how to sing. The surprise? Jessie’s partner is none other than Michael Tennant!
As she becomes better acquainted with the man behind the voice, will Jessie find out the hard way that you should never meet your idols? Or will she get more than she bargained for?
Jessie is a single mother of two, works as a pharmacist and knows she is a little tone-deaf (I can relate to that.) This doesn’t hold her back when she is watching the singing star, Michael Tennant on television and having a big crush on him.
When her sons put her forward for a singing competition, she is horrified but even more nervous when she is paired with Michael.
I have quickly got obsessed with Kathryn’s novels so I was so happy to be included in the blog tour for this novel.
I am not sure how Kathryn does it but I would like to know how she manages to get my hooked by the end of the first page every time.
by Book Review: Let It Snow by Sue Moorcroft
A big welcome to the fantastic Sue Moorcroft and the blog tour for her latest novel, Let it Snow.
Family means everything to Lily Cortez and her sister Zinnia, and growing up in their non-conventional family unit, they and their two mums couldn’t have been closer.
So it’s a bolt out of the blue when Lily finds her father wasn’t the anonymous one-night stand she’d always believed – and is in fact the result of her mum’s reckless affair with a married man.
Confused, but determined to discover her true roots, Lily sets out to find the family she’s never known; an adventure that takes her from the frosted, thatched cottages of Middledip to the snow-capped mountains of Switzerland, via a memorable romantic encounter along the way…
It may be October but it’s never too early for a Sue Moorcroft Christmas novel.
To add the topping to the cake, we’re welcomed back to the village of Middledip, Sue’s wonderful setting for quite a few of her stories. Because of this, we get a smattering of the inhabitants we’ve grown to love and this gives the novel an atmosphere of a family christmas.
Say hi to Lilly Cortez and Isaac O’Brien, out main protagonists, along with Doggo of course, a very friendly Dalmatian.
Fans of Sue will be familiar too with Tubb the Pub who has a central role in the main story. It’s very nice, this reviewer believes, that this much-loved character has more than a peripheral part in this story. In fact, this novel is chock full of wonderful, rounded, well-written characters, including Carola who’s a particular favourite of mine from Middledip.
Switzerland bounds to life off the pages to such a degree that you feel like you’re walking in the snow-clad towns, villages and fields of this Alpine country. It certainly made me wish that I could go for a visit. Here, you have a roadtrip combined with a love story that will have you silently screaming for a happy ending!
by Book Extract: Magic Under the Mistletoe by Lucy Coleman
What better treat on a Tuesday than to have Lucy Coleman visit Novel Kicks with the blog tour for her festive novel, Magic Under the Mistletoe.
Christmas and romance are in the air…
It’s December 23rd and while everyone else is rushing home for the holidays, workaholic Leesa Oliver is dreading switching on her out-of-office for the festive season. And it seems her equally driven boss, Cary Anderson, isn’t relishing spending Christmas at his family’s country estate either.
So together, they draft an unexpected Christmas contract: They’ll spend half of the holidays with each other’s families, pretending to be a couple. Leesa knows the insufferably good-looking Cary will make her Christmas more bearable, but what happens after the last of the mince pies have been eaten…?
Leesa signed off on a sensible business agreement, but somewhere, amongst the fairy lights and carols something seems to have changed… It seems there might just be some magic under the mistletoe this Christmas!
Lucy and Aria have shared an extract with us today. Enjoy.
***** beginning of extract*****
Standing beneath the steady stream of hot water without the overhead shower wetting my hair isn’t easy but it’s so refreshing. By the time I’ve dried, changed my underwear and donned the crease-resistant, long-sleeved top rolled up in my hand luggage, I at least have a bit of my sparkle back. A quick brush of my hair, a squirt of deodorant and then perfume, and I’m done.
Making my way back into the open area of the lounge and scanning around the sea of occupied seats, I look for Cary. His head appears above the crowded masses as he stands to wave at me and I head in his direction. He, too, is looking a little more refreshed, I notice as I sink down very gratefully into the squishy leather seat next to him.
by Book Review: Creative Writing Skills: Over 70 Fun Activities For Children by Lexi Rees
I am pleased to welcome Lexi Rees to Novel Kicks with the blog tour for her non-fiction workbook, Creative Writing Skills which includes over 70 activities to help develop your child’s writing.
Discover the secrets to becoming an amazing author.
Find your creative spark.
Grow your skills and confidence.
Have more fun with your writing.
Packed with top tips, this awesome workbook has everything you need to know about creating colourful characters, perfect plots, dynamite dialogue, and lots more …
I have many ‘how to write’ books and I wish half of them were as fun as this book.
Creative Writing Skills contains exercises, tips from the author and fun illustrations. With it being a workbook, your child can engage with the exercises directly. There are also opportunities to draw as well as writing using prompts.
For me, it’s a really good grounding for your child to begin and further develop writing stories. Also, it will give them an understanding of the writing process which, as someone who is trying to write a book is something that is so important. I really wish I’d had this book as a child.
Topics include looking at characters and building a profile, descriptions, settings, structure (there is a fun rollercoaster diagram which I will be using myself,) themes, genres, voice/POV, dialogue and sparking ideas; everything they will need to develop their stories.
by Book Review: Wrapped Up for Christmas by Katlyn Duncan
A big hello to Katlyn Duncan and the blog tour for her novel, Wrapped Up For Christmas.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year… but not for Angie Martinelli…
Having lost her boyfriend, job, and apartment all in the space of a week, Angie has no choice but to leave California and return to her family in New England.
Determined not to let life weigh her down, Angie finds work at the local mall where she worked as a teenager. After an embarrassing run-in with a handsome stranger, Nick, she’s convinced her luck is about to change.
But Nick has secrets of his own… and as the first flakes of snow begin to fall, Angie can’t help but wonder if she’ll ever find love.
Angie has found herself living back at her parent’s house in an attempt to escape a bad break-up and the loss of her job. Desperate to find work and having no offers in event planning, Angie takes a job as an Information Specialist at her local mall.
The need for this job becomes even more apparent when, at a café, her card is declined. This is where she meets Nick, when he kindly pays for her drink. Embarrassed, she leaves, knowing at least she will never see him again. That’s what she thinks.
One of the things I love most about this time of year are the Christmas stories that begin to appear on bookshelves. I know, I have mentioned this love before. I am Laura and I love Christmas. There, I said it.
I was excited to be reading Wrapped up for Christmas and couldn’t wait to start reading.
This book was so easy to fall into. Angie is a wonderfully open, endearing character. She has disappointments but she is resilient and I find that inspiring.
Nick is the perfect love interest. He is just what you want from a love story and I wanted things to work well for him, especially once you meet his Dad. Nick’s story is probably one a lot of people can relate to around this time of year.
by Book Review: I Wanted You To Know by Laura Pearson
It is lovely to welcome back to Laura Pearson and the blog tour for her latest novel, I Wanted You to Know.
Dear Edie, I wanted you to know so many things. I wanted to tell you them in person, as you grew. But it wasn’t to be.
Jess never imagined she’d be navigating single motherhood, let alone while facing breast cancer. A life that should be just beginning is interrupted by worried looks, heavy conversations, and the possibility of leaving her daughter to grow up without her.
Propelled by a ticking clock, Jess knows what she has to do: tell her daughter everything. How to love, how to lose, how to forgive, and, most importantly, how to live when you never know how long you have.
From best-selling author Laura Pearson comes her most devastating book yet. Honest, heart-wrenching, and emotionally raw, I Wanted You To Know is a love letter to life: to all its heartache and beauty, to the people we have and lose, to the memories and moments that define us.
I Wanted You To Know is Laura Pearson’s third novel.
*****
Jess isn’t like other girls her age. Instead of being at university, spending time with her friends and enjoying her youth, she’s facing the fact that her baby daughter will probably grow up without her.
Jess has terminal breast cancer. As she tries to come to terms with her fate, she writes a series of letters to her daughter – to try and be there even when she can’t be. She wants to tell Edie everything and she doesn’t have long to do so.
Oh Laura, you did it to me again. You made me cry. I knew this would happen the moment I started reading and that was just the authors note. I like the fact that it’s a mixture of letters and prose; the style makes it easy to know what’s going on in Jess’s head. I got so invested in this story and have a massive book hangover.
I couldn’t help but feel such empathy and love toward Jess as a character. She felt so real to me.
To be honest, I don’t think there was a completely unlikable character in the whole novel. Everyone has their layers, complexities and flaws. It’s all explored so well.
Aside from what I’ve said already and as normal, I am not saying anything else about what happens to Jess and her loved ones. That is something I suggest you find out for yourself.
by Book Review: Four Christmases and a Secret by Zara Stoneley
Happy publication day to Zara Stoneley. I am happy to be hosting as part of her blog tour for Four Christmases and a Secret.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year…
Except for Daisy Christmas means another of Uncle T’s dreaded Christmas parties, complete with Christmas jumper and flashing antlers. And Oliver Cartwright. Gorgeous Oliver Cartwright. Who she hates.
Every year Daisy has to face insufferable Ollie and hear all about how BRILLIANT he is. Whereas Daisy has no job, no man and no idea how to fix things.
This Christmas however Daisy is determined things will be different. There will be no snogging Ollie under the mistletoe like when they were teenagers. No, this year she’ll show Ollie that she’s a Responsible Adult too.
But as the champagne corks pop, and the tinsel sparkles, Uncle T has news of his own to share…and it could change Daisy’s life forever…
At eighteen, Daisy has a plan. She is going to be a vet, have a family and a life that she could be proud of. All would be good.
Even when her best friend, Ollie kisses her at his Uncle’s Christmas Eve party, it doesn’t knock her off her stride.
In the present day, Daisy is over thirty, renting a room in her friend’s house and she is back at Uncle T’s bookshop attending another Christmas Eve party, this time alone with no boyfriend, no home of her own and a dead-end job writing small ads for the local paper. She is certainly not living the life she thought she would be.
This is made worse when her perfect ‘old friend,’ Ollie, appears. In the years since she’s seen him, he’s turned from dorky teenager into a very handsome Doctor. He’s changed a lot. She can’t like him?… Can she? Not the boy she played and fought with as a kid?
I am so honoured to be part of the blog tour for Zara’s latest book especially as today is publication day for Four Christmases and a Secret.
Daisy is a lovely character. She’s endearing, makes mistakes and the fact that she doesn’t have her life completely together is one of the things I loved most about her. She has a contemporary Bridget Jones feel about her actually.
Ollie is the right amount of confidence and shy. This made him a very believable character. I championed him and Daisy. I am not saying anymore on the ‘will they, won’t they’ situation. I don’t want to give away the plot if I can help it.
by Book Review: The Flower Arranger from JJ Ellis
Agora Books, 26th September 2019
Today’s blog tour features the debut novel, The Flower Arranger from JJ Ellis.
And now he knew what was wrong with the arrangement. It was the Ma… the negative space… There was only one thing beautiful enough to fill it and — finally — she was with him. Ready, if not willing, to play her role.
Holly Blain wants to cover real news. The entertainment beat — pop stars and teen trends — was not why she moved to Tokyo. When she meets Inspector Tetsu Tanaka, head of Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police’s Gaikoku-jin unit, it might just be her big break.
Tanaka isn’t so sure. Always one to do things by the book, he’s hesitant about bringing this headstrong reporter into his carefully controlled investigation.
But young women keep disappearing and Tanaka is given no choice. He and Blain must trust each other if they are to stop a tormented killer from bringing his twisted plan to its shocking conclusion.
Filled with twists and turns, this unforgettable thriller is JJ Ellis’ first novel.
Holly Blain is quite new to Tokyo and wants to make her mark as a crime reporter. Covering the entertainment wasn’t exactly what she envisioned when she thought about her reporting ambitions.
She is delighted when she is introduced to Inspector Tetsu Tanaka from Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police’s Gaikoku-Jin unit. He could be her way to gain the scoop to further her career.
Tanaka isn’t so sure about Holly and keeps her at arm’s length.
Wow…. just wow.
The Flower Arranger is the debut novel from JJ Ellis but it won’t be the last I read from this author.
Told from the point of view of Tanaka, Holly and the killer, this book pulled me in from the moment I picked it up. I found it compelling and quite frankly unputdownable.
I had what I call itchy book fingers when I was forced to put it down. I just wanted to pick it up and continue reading.
The setting is so vivid. I have never visited Japan but I could see myself walking the streets with the characters. I felt totally emerged.
Tanaka is a strong and believable character. He’s an honourable policeman and wants to do his due diligence. He is one for the rules and his reaction to Holly was an interesting one. His relationship with her has a fascinating arc to it and I certainly want to see these two together in another novel.
Holly was more of an enigma to me. Not a lot is given away about where she’s come from and what has happened before she reached Tokyo. This is a book in itself I think and one that I would also read. There is certainly more to Holly than we see here. She and Tanaka are total opposites but they work.
It took me a few pages to get my head around who everyone was. Not a bad thing, just me.
by Upcoming Novel Releases
Chatto & Windus, Sept ’19
Autumn is on its way (even though the weather can’t quite make up its mind.)
What this does mean is a great list of fantastic novel releases and here is my first list of the books I am looking forward to reading.
The first book on my list has already come out but it is one I am incredibly excited about. It’s one I’ve been waiting years for… The Testaments by Margaret Atwood.
Ever since I read the Handmaid’s Tale when I was sixteen, I have been wanting to know what happened next. The TV show has been great for that but there is something for me about a novel straight from the original author that makes it extra special. I am also interested to read it having had the perspective from the TV show and the continued development of the characters from that. I have heard such good things about this book.
Released on 10th September, The Testaments picks up fifteen years after the end of the first book, Gilead maintains its power but there are signs that it’s beginning to crumble from within. Three women’s lives converge with explosive results.
HarperCollins, Sept ’19
The second novel in the list is another book I have been waiting so long for and that is Postscript by Cecelia Ahern. I have been fortunate enough to get an advanced copy and I am planning on reviewing soon.
I adored PS I Love You and so the sequel had a lot to live up to. I wasn’t sure how it was going to work. The first one had such a unique plot. How was the story going to carry on?
I won’t say too much now about my thoughts at this stage but a summary of the plot is that Postscript starts seven years after the end of PS I Love You and six years after Gerry’s last letter.
A group contacts Holly. They call themselves the PS I Love You club and they are asking her for help. She begins a relationship with the group and is soon finding herself drawn back to the feelings she thought she had left behind.
It has been released today (19th September) so is available to read now.
A Patchwork Family: Taking Chances by Cathy Bramley is part three in a four-part serial and is due to be released on 3rd October.
by Book Review: We Met in December by Rosie Curtis
Hello to Rosie Curtis and the blog tour for her latest book, We Met in December.
What if you couldn’t get away from the one who got away?
This December, unlucky-in-love Jess is following her dream and moving to Notting Hill. On the first night in her new house-share she meets Alex, the guy in the room next door. They don’t kiss under the mistletoe, but there’s still a spark that leaves Jess imagining how they might spend the year together – never mind the house rule against dating…
But when Jess returns from her Christmas holiday, she finds Alex has started seeing Emma, who lives on the floor above them. Now Jess faces a year of bumping into the man of her dreams – and, apparently, the woman of his.
Jess is determined to move on and spend the year falling in love with London, not Alex – but what if her heart has other ideas?
We Met in December tells the story of Jess and Alex.
Jess has just moved to London after breaking up with her boyfriend. She is looking to go after the career she has always wanted.
Alex was a successful lawyer and has now given that up to re-train as a nurse. He has made a promise to himself that, after a break up with his fiancée, he would focus on his career. He did not count on meeting Jess.
First, I am completely in love with this cover. It is so beautiful.
We Met in December is told from the point of view of both Alex and Jess. I liked this as it gave me a better overall idea of what each were thinking. It’s proof that misunderstandings and assumptions can be the cause of many problems between people that’s for sure.
These two were both wonderful, compelling characters and I came to care for them a lot. I found them to be characters I really liked and want to spend time with in real life.
I also loved the supporting characters, especially Nanna Beth, Rob and Becky. I want to know more about their lives.
I became so invested in this story. I want to be a roommate in this house. It’s like a rom-com movie and I could see it as such.
by Book Review: A Perfect Cornish Christmas by Phillipa Ashley
Christmas in Cornwall is just around the corner…
But after last Christmas revealed a shocking family secret, Scarlett’s hardly feeling merry and bright. All she wants this Christmas is to know who her real father is.
So Scarlett heads to the little Cornish town of Porthmellow, where she believes the truth of her birth is hidden. She just didn’t bargain on being drawn into the Christmas festival preparations – or meeting Jude Penberth, whose charm threatens to complicate life further.
Everything will come to a head at Porthmellow’s Christmas Festival … But can Scarlett have the perfect Christmas this year, or are there more surprises on the way?
Firstly, Phillipa has created the type of village that I think we’d all love to live in…or maybe that’s just this reviewer?
In our second visit to the Cornish village of Porthmellow, we are treated to the ime after Scarlett’s worst Christmas ever, and how her sister Ellie and her deal with the fall-out. This is so much a family story, though with more twists and turns than a snake!
by Book Review: Feed Thy Enemy by Sue Parritt
Hello and welcome to Sue Parritt and the blog tour for her novel, Feed Thy Enemy.
In this heart-warming narrative based on a true story, a British airman embarks on a plan that risks it all to feed a starving, war-stricken family.
Thirty years after serving in World War II, middle-aged Rob’s holiday plans see an unforeseen change that leads him on a coach tour of Italy. Struggling with post-war PTSD and depression, he reluctantly agrees to the journey – and sparks a dream that plunges him into long-stifled memories.
Set in Europe, Sue Parritt’s Feed Thy Enemy is an account of courage and compassion in the face of trauma. When Rob’s flashback delves into his attempts to save a famished family with a series of increasingly daring raids on his army’s supply stores, will he trigger suppressed remembrances of past war, love, and sacrifice – and find the strength to confront them in the present?
Feed Thy Enemy follows the life of Rob, a tail gunner in the RAF during the second world war.
Now an old man, he is haunted by the actions and memories of his past, suffering from frequent bouts of depression and insomnia.
When a holiday with his wife and friends is changed at the last minute he winds up going to Italy and is forced to face the memories of the time he spent there in Naples during the war and the Italian family he befriended.
Rob is a haunted man. I have some experience of depression and PTSD and I couldn’t help but empathise with him, the author doing a superb job of expressing the isolation and depth of his condition.
The story is not all doom and gloom though by any means, as it details how he went to great lengths (and considerable risk) to help an Italian family who only a short while ago would have perceived him as the enemy.
Continue reading
by Book Review: Mrs Sommersby’s Second Chance by Laurie Benson
What better way to kick off a Sunday by welcoming Laurie Benson and the blog tour for her novel, Mrs Sommersby’s Second Chance.
She’s played Cupid for others
Now she’s met her own unlikely match!
The final book of The Sommersby Brides quartet. Widowed society matchmaker Mrs. Clara Sommersby thinks self-made businessman William Lane is just the man for her neighbor’s overlooked daughter. He’s successful and confident, if emotionally distant, until suddenly—shockingly—his attention turns to Clara herself!
She thought her days of romance were over, but is this younger man intent on giving her a second chance?
Mrs Sommersby’s Second Chance is a seasoned regency romance novel and the last in the Sommersby Brides series.
This was my first novel in the series and one of the things I loved was that the main character was in her forties. Prove that life doesn’t end simply because you’re not twenty.
As I said, this book focuses on Clara Sommersby who is drawn to a visitor to Bath, William Lane. Instantly they have an attraction to each other.
This can be read as a standalone novel but I will be picking up the others in the series when I can.
I immediately fell in love with the characters, the setting and the atmosphere in this novel. I love Bath and felt as though I was there observing the relationship that builds between Lane and Clara. I felt like I was stepping back in time with this magical love story.
I cheered for both Clara (who is a strong, independent woman,) and Lane who is a proper gentleman. Like Clara, Lane knows what it’s like to work hard for what you achieve and what it’s like to have little in the world and for the society around you to expect that you’re not capable of achieving anything.
by Book Review: The Moments by Natalie Winter
Life is made up of countless moments. Moments that make us who we are. But what if they don’t unfold the way they’re supposed to…?
What if you get on the wrong bus, or don’t speak to the right person at a party, or stay in a job that isn’t for you? Will you miss your one chance at happiness? Or will happiness find you eventually, when the moment is right?
Meet Matthew and Myrtle. They have never really felt like they fitted – in life or with anyone else. But they are meant to be together – if only they can find each other.
A powerful and emotional story about missed chances, interwoven lives and the moments that define us.
*****
The Moments is the story about two people as they go through significant moments in their lives. I’ve seen it described as a cross between One Day and Sliding Doors.
This story follows Myrtle and Matthew; two outsiders who have always felt as though they’ve never fitted in. The Moments is told from the point of view of both characters but it was made very clear which one I was reading about. This book was an interesting approach to the traditional love story. These characters have many chances to meet. I am not going to reveal if they do and in what circumstance.
Fate is so present in this novel and very much has its own agenda. The idea of meeting the right person at the right or wrong time. I find it fascinating.
It reminded me so much of my husband and I. Although we grew up at opposite ends of the country, he used to holiday/had family in my home town. His mother and mine were even in the same guide troop a couple of years apart. Although we didn’t meet until we were eighteen, I always loved the idea that, like this novel, we possibly crossed paths without even realising.
by Book Review: I Heart Hawaii by Lindsey Kelk
When Angela Clark’s best friend Jenny invites her to join a press trip to Hawaii, three days of sun, sea and sleep sounds like the perfect antidote to her crazed life.
At work in New York, she’s supposed to be the face of Having It All. But the only thing Angela feels she excels at is hiding in the printer cupboard, eating Mini Cheddars and watching Netflix on her phone and if this is living the dream, she’s more than ready to wake up.
A few days away with Jenny sounds like exactly what she needs but Angela’s talent for getting into a scrape guarantees nothing goes to plan – and not even the most beautiful beaches, blue skies and daiquiris will get her off the hook…
I have to say that I was sad to hear that this is the last in the I Heart series. I have enjoyed following Angela over the last few years.
Angela is still in New York. Alice is almost one, Alex is getting ready for a live show full of new material and our heroine has quit Spencer Media to go and work for her frenemy, Cici.
She has also been invited to meet with the exclusive Mothers of Brooklyn group which, on first inspection feels more like the mafia to Angela.
When Angela is given the chance to go on an all expense paid trip to Hawaii, she reluctantly goes, with a little arm twisting from Jenny.
Now, I can’t say much more without giving things away but if you are in any way familiar with Angela, you will know that hilarity and chaos will ensue.
I really enjoyed this novel and feel it was paced well. I was reading far into the night and couldn’t put the book down (the same as the rest of the books in the series.)
by Book Review: A Cornish Affair by Jo Lambert
I am very happy to finally be welcoming Jo Lambert back to Novel Kicks with the blog tour for her new novel, A Cornish Affair.
Here’s a little about the book…
In the close-knit community of Carrenporth in Cornwall everyone knows everyone else’s business. Luke Carrack is only too aware of this. He’s been away for two years but nothing has changed – from the town gossips who can’t see past the scandal of his childhood, to the cold way he is treated by some of his so-called family.
The only person who seems to understand is local hotelier’s daughter Cat Trevelyan, although even Luke’s new friendship with her could set tongues wagging.
But Carrenporth is about to experience far bigger scandals than the return of Luke Carrack – and the secrets unearthed in the process will shake the sleepy seaside town to its core …
Luke Carrack is back in Carrenporth after a couple of years away.
He soon discovers that in the two years he has been away, not much as changed. There are still the village gossips and his Aunt and Cousin don’t like him much.
There is only one person he seems to connect with, Cat, who is the daughter of the local hotelier.
This book immediately pulled me in. This is partly down to the writing style and how it so easily got me absorbed into the story. Told from both Luke and Cat’s point of view, I really got an idea of what each one was thinking and feeling. The setting also sounds beautiful. I could see myself in this little Cornish town.
by Book Club
