Chocolate Shoes and Wedding Blues & The Magic of Christmas by Trisha Ashley.

Chocolate Shoes and Wedding Blues.

Trisha Ashley.

(Avon, May 2012.)

Tansy Poole inherits a run –down shoe shop in the village of Sticklepond – Cinderella’s Slippers is soon established, stocking the footwear to make any fairy-tale wedding come true.

If only Tansy’s personal life was as heavenly. With a fiancé trying to make her fit into a size eight wedding dress as well as the discovery of shocking family revelations, Tansy soon takes shelter in the shops success.

A link to her past also moves in next door, in the shape of ex fling, the actor Ivo Hawksley who is there to nurse his own broken heart.

Soon they discover that secrets shared begin to forge a special bond between them.  

Loved it, loved it, and loved it. I’m a fan of Trisha’s previous novels – The Twelve Days of Christmas, Chocolate Wishes and The Magic of Christmas. As with some of her other stories, this book is set in the town of Sticklepond. What I like about that is, although the main characters may be different, previous characters that I liked from past novels are on the periphery, so it’s really like catching up with old friends such as Chloe, Raffy, Poppy and Felix from Chocolate Wishes and Sophy from A Winter’s Tale. You get a glimpse at what happened to them beyond their own tales.

I found this book easy and relaxing to read with wonderful twists and turns that kept my interest. I read this book almost in one session and couldn’t put it down and it also had the addition of some of Trisha’s recipes which is always a bonus.

The ending had a twist which surprised me as all the way through the book I had made my mind up as to what was going to happen; the ending wasn’t at all what I thought it was going to be.

I did find myself really liking the characters and I wanted Ivo, Bella and Tansy to have a happy ending. There are poignant moments as well as humorous ones and has warmth that Trisha Ashley effortlessly delivers.

If you liked this then you may like:

The Magic of Christmas.

Trisha Ashley

(Avon, 2011)

Set in the Lancashire village of Middlemoss, Lizzy is on the verge of leaving her cheating husband when tragedy strikes. Luckily, Lizzy finds distraction in caring for her son Jasper, the Christmas Pudding Circle where her best friend Annie is also a member, as well as her rivalry with local cookery writer Nick.

The whole village is gearing up for the annual Boxing Day mystery play but who will play Adam to Lizzy’s Eve? Will it be Nick or the handsome soap actor, Ritch and which one of them will win her heart?

This book was previously published as Sweet Nothings but has been reworked with new extra material thrown in. I’ve not read Sweet Nothings so was coming to this book with no prior preconceptions of the story or the characters. As with The Twelve Days of Christmas, its subject matter did automatically appeal to me as I love Christmas. I began to read this book around Christmas 2011 (having put it off until then as I really wanted to soak up the atmosphere of the plot.)

Lizzy was a wonderful character and she does undertake quite a journey throughout the course of the book and comes into herself a lot and out of the shadows. Her fellow members of the Christmas Pudding Club are also very likeable too and there are believable villains that you’ll love to hate and whose behaviour shocked me.

Set in the village of Sticklepond (as with previous novels,) you’ll finish this book with a nice, contented smile.

If you’re a fan of Trisha Ashley’s novels or you like warm, friendly characters with a community feel, then you’ll love this book.

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by

Laura

I'm Laura. I started Novel Kicks back in 2009 as I wanted a place to discuss books and writing - two loves of my life. As someone who has anxiety, these two things give me, and I am sure countless others, a much needed escape.
There is a monthly book club, writing exercises, prompts, reviews, author interviews, competitions and guest posts. I cover many genres and I hope there is something for everyone.
I grew up by the sea in Dorset and currently live in Poole with my husband, Chris and three cats. I love writing and have a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing from Falmouth University. I am writing my first book. If only I could stop pressing delete. Chris has threatened to stop it from working. Haha.
I have always loved creative writing since I was in first school and would very much like to meet my teacher, Miss Sayers, to say thank you for all the encouragement she gave me then.
When not writing, I love reading, cats, Disney, singing (I can't sing but this doesn't stop me,) and falling into a good TV show or film. If I could step into any fictional world, it would be amongst the characters in ABC's Once Upon a Time.
I love reading many genres and discovering new authors.