Lincoln Ladies - Suzy Duffy

This is the third book in Suzy Duffy's New England series and to my mind is the best so far.

I really enjoyed the first of the series, Wellesley Wives, and found it hilarious and at times even laugh out loud funny.

Lincoln Ladies was a more enjoyable read for me, though, because it is a heart-warming story about love, friendship and the often challenging phases of parenting, particularly when dealing with the empty-nest syndrome and struggling through single mother challenges. Whilst it is a tale full of humour and the dialogue is believable, I felt the subject matter was a little less frivolous than the previous books in this series as Suzy Duffy tackles some serious issues with humour and wit.

It is a feel good book with lovely characters and a couple of love interests to swoon over. So if you are looking for some good old fashioned romance and a story to make you smile, I would strongly recommend you pick up Lincoln Ladies and read it.

9.6/10

Divas Las Vegas - Belinda Jones

Friends forever, Jamie and Izzy share a dream: a glitzy double wedding in Las Vegas. At age 27, they’ve had enough of dodgy boyfriends and are ready for dodgy husbands—all they have to do is find them. And where better than Vegas itself, where the air is 70 percent oxygen and 30 percent confetti? But as they abandon their lives in sleepy Devon for the eye-popping brilliance of Sin City, their groom-grabbing plan starts to look less than fool proof. And those problems they thought they’d left behind—like Izzy's fiancé and the alarming reappearance of Jamie’s first love—just won't go away

Firstly let me tell you that I have enjoyed all the previous Belinda Jones books I have read. I liked this one but only really got into it about one third of the way in and then wasn't madly in love with Izzy - hence only a 8.7/10

Having said that, the descriptions of Vegas, the shows and the atmosphere of the town are all spot on. The location always plays a big part in each Belinda Jones story and drawing a complete picture of the setting is one of the things she does really well in each of her books.

This was the first book she had published and it will not put me off picking up more of her work as she seems to get stronger as she progresses, if  some of her other work is anything to go by.

8.7/10

A Hidden Fire - Elizabeth Hunter (Elemental Mysteries #1)

This is the first book in a series of four. I found it for free as an e-book on Amazon.com so downloaded it to take a peek. I was hooked immediately and by the time I got to 40% I went back to Amazon and bought the other three books in the series!!

I am not a massive fan of fantasy but having recently read and enjoyed A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness and after reading the blurb below, I thought I'd give it a try.

A phone call from an old friend sets Dr. Giovanni Vecchio back on the path of a mystery he'd abandoned years before. He never expected a young librarian could hold the key to the search, nor could he have expected the danger she would attract. Now he and Beatrice De Novo will follow a twisted maze that leads from the archives of a university library, through the fires of Renaissance Florence, and toward a confrontation they never could have predicted.

Elizabeth Hunter does such a good job of slowly creating a world of hidden beings and likable characters, it was enjoyable from the start. I was so enamoured by the story that I looked for other reviews. Someone posted one with pictures of what she thought Beatrice and Giovanni looked like, and it was exactly how I had pictured them too. Just like this.........

I can highly recommend this book and suggest you give it go, or, why not just buy the whole set!

And, of course, the moral of the story here is that marketing works! It seems that Amazon have nailed the ploy of offering free kindle books as bait to reel in readers to encourage them then to buy the rest of a series! It worked with me and I am so glad I found it.

Can't wait to get started on Book 2!

9.8/10

Secrets of the Lighthouse - Santa Montefiore

It is a long time since I read a story that I didn't want to end (The last one was The Book Thief which I read a couple of years ago). I always get stuck between wanting to read faster to find out what happens and wanting to slow down the reading pace to savour the story and the characters. Secrets of the Lighthouse was one of these books.

Ellen Trawton is running away from her life in London, domineering mother and impending marriage to William. She heads to her aunt Peg's home in Connemara, Ireland, the one place she knows her mother will not dare to come for her. Her mother has been completely estranged from her sister, Peg, since she left her hometown over thirty years ago and has never returned. When Ellen arrives she is surprised to meet uncle's, auntie's and cousin's she had no idea existed. Her mother has kept so much from her and everyone else Ellen meets seems to be covering something up. It is inevitable that as time unfolds Ellen learns many things about her mother's family, secrets about her mother's past and secrets about a great tragedy that happened to a beautiful young woman, five years previously, at the derelict Lighthouse on the beach, close to her aunt's house.

This book was an absolute joy to read and as well as a few tearful moments and several laugh-out-loud pieces of dialogue the descriptions of rural Ireland are breath taking. The Byrne family, Ellen belongs to, are loving, protective and caring and I loved the way their characters were drawn.

There are very few books I read more than once but this will be one of them.

9.8/10

One Night in Italy - Lucy Diamond

One Night in Italy is Lucy Diamond's latest novel and it goes on sale in the UK today. It is a heart-warming story about friendship, family coming of age and getting over adversity.

Anna Morley is a journalist working on a local paper. She has a loser for a boyfriend and her job is going nowhere, fast. On a visit to the local elder care home where her grandma now lives, she suddenly gets information about her father which her mother has been reluctant to give her in the past. When she tries to get more details from her gran the cloud of confusion returns to her and there is nothing more to be said.

Catherine Evans life of servitude and emotional abuse is about to come to a crashing halt. After dropping off her twins to their respective universities, she realises her life has been dedicated to them and now wonders what on earth she will do without them at home. Arriving back home earlier than planned she finds her husband in their bed with another woman. Can it be true? Have the last twenty years been a lie? She is about to find out.

Sophie Frost lives in beautiful Sorrento. She has been travelling the world for the past eight years and has been to some amazing places. Italy is currently her love and for the last two years she has lived in the country she now thinks of as home. That is until the day she receives a phone call from her cousin to tell her of her father's heart attack. Of course, she must go home and face those things she has been running away from since she left all those years ago.

These three women and several other characters find themselves thrown together when they attend an Italian Class for beginners at the local college. They each have their own reason for being there and over the weeks of the course they grow close and begin to support each other in ways they could not have imagined before the course began.

It is a lovely story and I scarfed it up in only two sittings. As well as likeable characters the story contains lovely references to Italy, Italian food and of course a basic lesson in the language. Lucy Diamond is a great favourite of mine and One Night in Italy is arguably her best novel so far.

9.8/10

Me and Mr Jones - Lucy Diamond

This is the story of three brothers and their respective partners. The boys couldn't be more different, Hugh the dependable, David the serious and Charlie the flighty.
Their parents turned the family home into a B&B after the boys left and over the years it has become very busy, especially with regulars who like to visit for their holiday each year. Now, though, Mr and Mrs Jones have come to a point where they feel the business might all be too much for them but they don't want to give up the place that has so many memories for the family.
A family meeting is called to decide what should be done but with each of the boys are at a different point in their lives, the decision of what to do with the business and the family home becomes increasingly difficult. Hugh and Alicia have been married for years but Alicia is beginning to feel restless and yearns for some time to herself or an adventure away from Hugh and the children, just to recharge her batteries and relax.
David and Emma used to be inseparable but having tried so long for a family, they are feeling the strain of that pressure on their relationship.
Charlie meets Izzy who is fairly new in town and their attraction is instant and strong. When he decides to bring her and her daughters to meet his family, it doesn't quite turn out the way he would have liked.
This is a story of family dynamics and the ties that bind, ties between husband and wife, parents and children, brothers and wives and girlfriends. The characters are likeable and their situations, plausible. It is an easy and enjoyable read. I do like reading Lucy Diamond books and this one did not let me down
9.5/10

Summer with my Sister – Lucy Diamond

Polly has always been the glamorous sister with the high flying job in the City and an expensive lifestyle to match whilst Claire is a single mum, struggling to make ends meet as she brings up her two children in a ramshackle cottage just around the corner from her parents who are her main support. The two sisters couldn’t be more different, they barely speak to each other any more and these days only get together around Christmas time each year.

Suddenly, Polly’s fortunes change and she finds herself penniless with nowhere else to go other than back to her home town. Her parents have a small place which is just about big enough for the two of them and as soon as Claire realises the sacrifices her parents are making having Polly stay with them, she, reluctantly, offers Polly a room in her home. For the first time in years the two sisters find themselves living together.

With all the close proximity, the children playing up, a petulant ex-husband, the re-appearance of an old flame, the resurfacing of a long hidden family secret and the raised emotions all this evokes, the two sisters find that things are a bit fraught but when the chips are down, is blood thicker than water after all?

This is a lovely story about family dynamics and the ties that bind us. The storyline may sound a bit cliché from the description, however, it is written in such a way that it is anything but cliché. Lucy Diamond does a great job of making her characters believable, flawed, vulnerable and powerful when it matters most. She draws some great caricatures of City-types and village folks and the pace of events is timed perfectly.

Summer with my Sister is only the second Lucy Diamond book I have read (the other one was The Beach Café, which I loved and is also a great summer read) and after reading it I immediately ordered her new book – Me and Mr Jones – because I loved this one so much. It is an entertaining and heart-warming story and I highly recommend it as a summer read.

9.8/10

Pedigree Mum – Fiona Gibson

Kerry Tambini and her husband, Rob, get an offer to live by the sea in a small village called Shorling. After an idyllic family day out there they decide to leave the hustle and bustle of London behind and move with their two children to the coast. Then Rob makes the biggest mistake of his life and the whole family dynamic is changed.

Kerry soon realises how hard it is to bring up her children single-handedly in a village full of competitive, un-friendly mum’s. She feels heartbroken for her struggling children who are missing their father enormously, so, after months of them begging for a dog and in an attempt to cheer them up, she finally decides to adopt one.

Enter, Buddy!

The children and Kerry instantly fall in love with Buddy and his wayward ways and very soon he begins to fill part of the gap they all have in their lives. Then, just as things start to settle a little, Kerry finds she has a couple of admirers in Shorling but she struggles to feel romantic towards anyone after being so badly let down by Rob.

Firstly, let me say thank you to Dot at Dot Scribbles for sending me this book to review. This is the first Fiona Gibson book I have read and it was so enjoyable, I devoured it in a couple of days.

Underneath the funny and cringe-worthy happenings in each of these character’s lives, there are some serious issues being dealt with in the story which, on the whole, I think Fiona Gibson handles with honesty and humour. My only tiny comment would be that I feel Rob is treated very unsympathetically throughout the book and although he makes a huge mistake, I did feel a little bit sorry for him. Apart from that, I found this book to be entertaining and well worth setting aside some time to read. It is ideal for a holiday read.

9.5/10

Before I Met You – Lisa Jewell

Ten-year old Elizabeth has her life thrown into turmoil when she, her mother and stepfather pack their bags and head from their bungalow in Surrey to a run-down, rambling, damp old house on top of a cliff in Guernsey. They have come to look after her stepfather’s mother, the formidable, eighty-four year old, Arlette, who has taken a fall and is in need of help. When the two meet for the first time, Elizabeth is determined to be miserable and uncooperative, but notices, as she looks down, Arlette is wearing red silk shoes with matching rosette’s which takes her by surprise. When they are introduced, the first thing Elizabeth can say is “I like your shoes” and from that moment on they fall in love with each other. A little later, after Elizabeth has been living there a while, Arlette says:

“…..And now here you are. In my home. And I have to say. From the first time I saw you, I liked you very much.’ Arlette smiled then and appraised Elizabeth with twinkling eyes. “I’d like to call you Betty, if I may?”

“Betty?”

“Yes. In my day if you were Elizabeth, you were Betty. Or Bet. But Betty was more popular. And I don’t know, you just look like a Betty to me”………

More than a decade later, Betty, now in her early twenties, has become Arlette’s sole carer after she succumbed to Alzheimer’s. Determined to be there at the end, she nurses and soothes her grandmother through the terrors of her illness during sleepless nights, until one morning she finds herself waking up after 9 a.m. with no interruptions. The moment she looks at the clock she knows Arlette has gone.

In her will Arlette has left the house to her son, and all her wardrobe, including her mink coat and jewellery to Betty, plus one thousand pounds. The rest of her considerable, albeit, diminished estate has been left to a mysterious woman called Clara Pickle, last known at an address in London. In all her years living with and looking after Arlette, Betty has never heard her mention the name and nobody else has heard of her either. Jumping at the chance to be free of Guernsey, Betty volunteers to head to London in search of Clara. The mystery deepens when Betty unwraps the mink coat and finds folded inside it an old children’s story book with an inscription, in Arlette’s handwriting:

To Little Miss Pickle
I do hope you will be a glad girl
Yours eternally,
Arlette Lafolley


When Betty arrives in London she is determined to find out as much as she can about her grandmother’s earlier years and when it transpires that Arlette had been living in London during the early 1920’s and was a trendsetter of the time, the story divides into two versions of the mystery; one told in the 1990’s by Betty as she uncovers the truth and one in the 1920’s by Arlette as we find out more about her and her trendy friends who are trailblazing through night clubs and jazz orchestra’s as they go.

This is a story of a girl’s devotion to her grandmother as she cares for her and is determined to uncover the mystery she has left behind. It is also the story of young Arlette in the 1920’s and Betty in the mid 1990’s, both hailing from Guernsey, trying to establish themselves and settle into life in London. After Arlette dies their stories run side by side throughout the rest of the book and sometimes even run parallel to each other. As the reader hears Arlette's story directly they are always one step ahead of Betty as she tries to find Clara Pickle and learn more about the young woman her grandmother was.

It is a lovely book and I was instantly drawn to Betty and her story, although it took me a little longer to feel the same about Arlette and her story, however, within no time of travelling back to the 1920’s I was with her all the way. The story is amusing, poignant, interesting and offers a tantalising glimpse into the life of a young, independent woman living the high life as one of the Bright Young People of 1920’s London. It also offers a little insight into the domestic life of a modern day 90's rock star, but, I will let Betty tell you about that!

I have read three other Lisa Jewell books and I believe this one is possibly the best, although I did love The Truth about Melody Browne which definitely runs a close second. Lisa Jewel offers her readers more than just the usual chick-lit romances (although there is nothing really wrong with some of those). Her stories are about believable people in real situations whose life doesn’t always turn out how they expect it to. This book leaves an impression and is memorable after it is finished. I will definitely read it again and can highly recommend it.

9.8/10

The Very Picture of You – Isabel Wolff

Ella Graham is a portrait painter who has begun to gain lots of recognition for her touching portraits. Her sister, Chloe, is about to get married to Nate and for a wedding present she has asked Ella to paint his portrait which she intends to give him as a gift on the eve of their wedding. Ella is unhappy about this as she doesn’t much like nor trust Nate, even though she has only met him once. However, as she spends more time with him during their sittings, her initial opinions begin to change significantly.

Ella also has other clients she is getting to know more about, too: there is a beautiful French woman whose husband wants her to have a portrait painted as a fortieth birthday present, although she is reluctant; a lonely, elderly widow and a popular politician with a secret. There are many secrets floating around in Ella’s life, not least of all those her mother kept from her about her father so as Chloe’s wedding draws closer and preparations become more frantic, Ella is surprised to receive an email from her father, John, who she hasn’t seen or heard from for more than thirty years.

The Very Picture of You is a lovely story and an easy read. I almost inhaled it in during two big sittings it was so enjoyable. There are many things I love about Isabel Wolff’s writing and this book did not disappoint. She always draws such a full landscape of characters; this and all of the previous Isobel Wolff books I have read are not in the least bit confusing even though they are filled with more than one storyline; and she always provides great insight into the topic she is writing about, in this case, the life of a portrait painter. I particularly loved learning about the lives of the sitters through the eyes of Ella as she got to know them better. I had not realised how intimate a relationship a portrait painter can have with their clients.

If you enjoy an interesting story with a little romance thrown in then this is the book for you.

9.8/10

Miranda’s Mount (UK edition) Girl vs. Earl (US edition) – Phillipa Ashley.

Miranda Marshall loves her job as property manager of the beautiful castle and old fort, St. Merryn’s Mount. Steeped in history and home to the Cornish aristocratic family, the St. Merryn’s, this beautiful castle is not just a museum, but, a welcoming place for visitors to have fun in the beautiful Cornish countryside and get to learn a little about the Mount's past. Working her way up from taking tickets at the entrance, for the last three years Miranda has held the role of property manage and has helped grow the business dramatically during that time, attracting more visitors and organising regular family fund raising events, which are bigger and bigger successes each year. Miranda is Lady St. Merryn’s eyes and ears on site and even though she seems to be slowing down a little recently, Miranda’s boss still has a keen interest in everything to do with the family home.

We first meet Miranda at the end of a busy day when she is doing the final rounds following the days visitors who have all left on the last ferry back to the mainland. She is surprised by a man who appears to be an intruder, brandishing a cutlass which he has taken off the wall in the Armoury. After Calling security to detain him even though she doesn't believe he looks like a madman, Miranda finally comes to realise that this is no intruder but Jago St. Merryn, rightful heir to the Mount and son of Lady St Merryn. Jago has been away from Cornwall, travelling the world for over ten years and is seldom mentioned by Lady St Merryn. After his father’s death, Jago left the running of the family home to his mother who had welcomed the task at the time after years of living in the shadow of her cruel husband, the previous Earl.

Jago is handsome and dashing in a Johnny Depp kind of way and Miranda is instantly drawn to him, in-spite of his wielding a cutlass and his silly antics in the armoury. Soon she learns, however, that Jago has a plan for St Merryn’s Mount and he is back to execute this as his mother is ready to take somewhat of a back seat in the running of the estate and let him take over. Before long it is clear that his intentions are not what Miranda or any of the people who work there want to happen.

This is a funny, witty love story filled with interesting characters, not least of all the family estate itself. St Merryn’s Mount is based on the estate of St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall and plays a huge role in this story. I was so drawn to this lovely place that I had to take a peep at the St Michael’s Mount website, just to see what it looked like (http://www.stmichaelsmount.co.uk/). I was not surprised when I saw a photo of it as Phillipa Ashley does a great job of describing the island fort and her love of the Cornwall countryside is clear.



This is the fifth Phillipa Ashley book I have read and believe it to be the best one so far. She delves into the personalities and motivation of the main protagonists decision making and there are also many other well drawn players in this story to get to know. They are humorous, sometimes not quite what they seem and the dialogue is believable and flows easily.

If you want an enjoyable escape to Cornwall for a few hours entertaining reading, then this is the book for you.

Miranda's Mount is published in the US with the title Girl vs. Earl



9.7/10

The Love of My (Other) Life – Traci L Slatton

Artist, Tessa Barnum is broke and has the co-op board of her apartment building after her for outstanding payments of maintenance bills which she has let lapse since her husband left her years before. That’s the bad news! The good news is she has started painting again for the first time since the scandal and she really feels with her newly found enthusiasm for her work that she will be able to get herself back on her feet again, pay off her debts and recover from the disgrace she suffered in her past.

As she tries to dodge the rep from the co-op she runs into a unkempt guy who appears to be homeless. She gives him a few dollars to get himself a coffee and he tells her he is from an alternative universe and in his world they are married. Enter, Brian Tennyson. He is undeniably attractive and vaguely familiar to Tessa and through him she finds the path to herself.

This is a lovely story of love and loss, surmounting obstacles, believing in what appears to be unbelievable and taking second chances. Tessa is drawn to Brian and even though, under normal circumstances, she would run a mile from a strange man who appears to be stalking her, she is not one bit afraid of Brian. She trusts him even though she doesn’t know him. As their relationship unfolds it is clear Tessa has many things to come to terms with from her past and so does Brian.

There is a quirky, magical feel to this story and although someone arriving from an alternative universe used to be the stuff of science fiction only, Traci Slatton uses some basic modern scientific principles to make the possibility believable. Having said that, it is very light on the science and very focused on the emotional connection between Tessa and Brian.

The book is a quick read, only 235 pages and I really enjoyed it. Actually, it put me in mind of the film Kate and Leopold with Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman, so I suppose anyone who enjoyed that film would really like this book.

It was recently published at the end of January and is available from bookstores and online from Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.

9.8/10

A Glass of Blessings - Barbara Pym

In the late 1950's, Wilmet Forsyth is nearing her thirtieth birthday. She lives in a suburb of London with her husband, Rodney and her mother-in-law, Sybil. Wilmet met Rodney in Italy during WWII. Back then he was a dashing Officer in the Army and she was a young woman serving in the WREN's. In the intervening years Rodney has put on a few pounds, begun to lose his hair and his job at the Ministry keeps him busy.

An acute observer of her surroundings and particularly of the happenings in the local church, Wilmet embarks on a journey of discovery which sees her yearning after a little adventure in her life, especially as Rodney prefers her not to work she feels she must fill her time somehow. As they are proposing to take a holiday in Portugal in the summer, she and Sybil decide to take Portuguese lessons and who should be their tutor but the enigmatic Piers Longridge, the brother of Wilmet's oldest and best friend, Rowena. Soon she finds Piers occupying her thoughts a little more than perhaps is proper for a married woman.

A Glass of Blessings was published in 1958 and was the fifth of seven books written by Barbara Pym. It is the first of her books I have read and it will not be the last. Pym's observations of people and their foibles are faultless. Through Wilmet Forsyth's thoughts and comments she masterfully and without malice, paints an intricate picture of life in middle-class London in the late 1950's. Her perceptive insights into the character and expectations of the cast in the story produce an excellent essay on suburban life of the time. The language is clever and the dialogue erudite, witty and delightful. This book was an enjoyable find for me and offers the reader a journey back in time to late 1950's England. It is charming, insightful and historically accurate. There were several things described in the book that I remember my grandmother having in her house when I was a child in the late sixties.

Barbara Pym intrigued me as I had not heard of her work before so I read a little about her life after reading this book. I can easily see why in 1977 she was nominated by both David Cecil and Philip Larkin as the most underrated writer of the century.

If you like journeying back in time, this is just the book to take you on a great ride.

9.7/10

Return to Sender – Fern Michaels

Lin Townsend has had a very sheltered life and has endured being bullied and beaten by her religious maniac of a father. When she was very young she was made to go to school in urine stained clothes because he wouldn’t allow her to go to the bathroom until she had finished reciting the bible passage he made her learn by heart. So, at age seventeen when she has the very first opportunity to escape her father’s violence by attending a maths tournament out of town, she jumps at the chance.

That’s when it happens. She meets Nick Pemberton, the most handsome boy she has ever laid eyes on and they have four wonderful days of fun and intimacy before Lin has to return home to her living hell. Two months later Lin discovers she is pregnant and when her father discovers the thruth, he literally throws her out into the street with only the clothes she has on her back. Fortunately Lin has saved some money to go to college with and using that she finds a one room garage apartment to live in and a job waiting tables at a local diner to keep a roof over her head. She tries to contact Nick to tell him of her plight but all her letters are returned unopened with the stamp “Return to Sender” on the envelope.

Eighteen years later we meet Lin again and this time she is in much better circumstances. After working two jobs and extra shifts at the diner before and after her son, Will was born, she is now the owner of the diner and a wealthy woman. We meet her as she is about to attend the NYC University open ceremony with Will who is about to commence his undergraduate degree in veterinary medicine. For the past eighteen years Lin has repeatedly tried to contact Nick to tell him about his son, but still the letters are returned unopened. Then, on what should have been the happiest day of her life she sees Nick Pemberton again and that is where the story really begins.

The first few chapters of this story are compelling reading. I loved Lin instantly and really wanted to know what happened to her and Will. As the book progresses, though, Lin begins to act foolishly and out of character from the original portrait that had been painted of her. I just couldn’t grapple with these two Lin Townsend’s and it irritated me to think how ridiculous she was being and I couldn’t believe she would resort to acting so childishly. Having said that, even though she got on my nerves, it did not stop me reading the whole story! I realised that those first few chapters had me hooked enough to care about what happened and had made me hopeful that Lin would get over the nonsense and be her nice self again.

I honestly cannot remember ever being so undecided about whether I liked a character or not. One thing is for sure, even though I really enjoyed the story I was glad when I finished reading it!

Have you ever had a character in a story really get on your nerves?

8.5/10

Christmas Short Stories from Carole Matthews, Nita Wick and Stacey Joy Netzel

This year I decided to read some short stories during the run up to Christmas because I rarely get time to sit for long at this time of year and if I am really into a story, having to put the book down is really frustrating for me.

I started with Carole Matthews trilogy of short stories which she made available for free on any e-reader. Winter Warmers contains three short stories.
All I Want for Christmas is You is about two friends working in an office and about to have to endure the office Christmas party for another year without a date. Carole does a good job with the dialogue and some of it is laugh out loud funny.
Cold Turkey is about a woman who is dating a married man who lets her down once again on Christmas Day by not turning up for dinner as he said he would. It is a warm story in the end.
About Gardening is a story about a couple who have been married for ten years and have kind of lost the spark in their relationship. It is the shortest of the three stories but even so it was interesting to listen to the wife relate her relationship to her garden.

All three stories have a Christmassy feel to them and of course a fairly happy ending. I found them light hearted and reading these little tales of love and romance put me in the mood for more things Christmas. If you get a chance to download Winter Warmers it will be worthwhile as the stories did not disappoint and whilst not as fleshed out as Carole’s usual novels, were very entertaining.

You can still download this book for free at Amazon.com or search on Little Brown website http://www.littlebrown.co.uk

The Christmas Angel by Nita Wick is a short story about a child who thinks she has spotted a Christmas Angel whilst out looking for a Christmas tree. Although it is really short, it is a lovely little story and made me smile. It definitely has a feel good factor and is worth the time it took to read. I wish it had been longer. If you want to feel the love, make sure you look for this story.

Mistletoe Mischief is one of three books in Stacey Joy Netzel’s Mistletoe series. It is a story about two single parents who find themselves together during their daughters’ field trip to the zoo. Although this book is set in July, the summer camp trip to the zoo is called Christmas in July complete with Santa in full beard, usual hat and tee-shirt and shorts! (Well, it is Wisconsin in summer!) This is the longest of the stories I read and possibly my favourite along with Carole Matthews All I Want for Christmas is You.

Finding short stories to read for Christmas was definitely a successful experiment and one I will carry on with until the New Year.

A Walk in the Park - Jill Mansell

Lara Carson is back in Bath after leaving eighteen years before following a huge argument with her father and stepmother. Finding herself without a home following the fight, alone and desperate she heads north to her Aunt Nettie’s house in Keswick where she remains from then on. Other than her father, nobody in Bath knows where she is. Now, back for his funeral, Lara’s best friend from those days, Evie, is delighted to see her again. Evie is soon to be married to Joel and invites Lara back for the wedding. Lara is praying that she doesn’t run into her boyfriend at the time she left, Flynn Erskine. Lara has a secret which she has been keeping from him and when she and Flynn do bump into each other, Lara has to decide how to handle telling him the truth.

I love the way Jill Mansell writes. I know I have said this before, but, for me, the fact that there are so many well drawn characters in her stories separates her from most other authors writing in the same genre. There are often big and bold characters and they fill the pages with colour, warmth and humour. A Walk in the Park is no exception. Although there are lots of people involved it is not confusing, which is a testament to the clarity with which Jill Mansell writes.

Here is what I said in my last review of Jill Mansell’s “Nadia Knows Best” “The thing I enjoy most about Jill Mansell’s books is the way all of her characters play such a big role in the story she is telling. They are not peripheral to the plot, they are an integral part of it and at times one could be forgiven for wondering who the main character is.”

The same is true here too.

As well as the story of Lara and Flynn there are other storylines which are intricately woven into this tale. We get to learn more about Lara’s mother who died three years before Lara left Bath for Keswick. Jill Mansell looks closely at the relationships between parents and children, family links, old friends, new friends, best friends and romantic ties too. I loved (almost) all of the characters involved. I didn’t want to put it down or for the story to end.

A Walk in the Park has recently been released and is published by Headline Review. I can recommend it to anyone who wants to read a lovely story and be thoroughly entertained by enjoyable characters. You can check out more on Jill Mansell and her work here: www.jillmansell.co.uk

Enjoy!

9.8/10

Just Say Yes - Phillipa Ashley

We first meet Lucy Gibson as she is trying to duck past the mob of paparazzi lying in wait for her outside her front door. In the last few days she has become public enemy number one after she turned down her boyfriend Nick’s marriage proposal on live TV. Lucy needs to find some peace, especially as one of the articles mentions the name of the law firm where she works as a marketing assistant. After seeing the firm’s name in the press, one of the partners at Able & Lawson suggests Lucy take a month off work, until things die down a little. Things only seem to be getting worse, however. When Lucy sees a close up photo of her bum without a visible panty-line, on the middle-page spread of one rag, brandishing the headline “NICKERLESS” across the page, she decides she cannot take any more.

Her best friend, Fiona, has the idea that they should leave London and escape to her hideaway cottage in the Cornish countryside where she often goes to write her crime novels. So they head off with Fiona’s “kitchen-sized” dog, Hengist, to the sleepy surfer town of Tresco Creek.

Not long after they arrive at Creekside Cottage, Lucy encounters Josh Standring, the owner of Tresco Farm and the other three cottages next to Fiona’s, which he runs as holiday lets. Mistaking him for paparazzi they don’t get off to the friendliest start, but, over the time Lucy is there, she and Josh get to know each other better – or so Josh thinks!

This is the first Phillipa Ashley novel I have read and I quite enjoyed it. The ending is predictable and most of the characters a little shallow for my reading taste, but overall, the story flows easily and it is a quick read. Even though there is some retrospective story-telling at first, it is not confusing at all and provides an important perspective to the story. I liked the Lucy at the end of the book much better than the Lucy at the beginning when she first met Nick. As she grew from being a ditsy girl who needed a man to define her, into a more independent woman she became more realistic to me and I found myself empathising with her much more.

This book is entertaining, light hearted and would make a good summer read.

8.5/10

Nadia Knows Best - Jill Mansell

We first meet Nadia Kinsella when she is steering her car as it is sliding out of control on packed ice. Eventually the car comes to a stop as it ploughs into a ditch and Nadia is happy to be alive and unhurt. Not knowing where she is and realising the battery on her phone is dead, she decides to sit out the snowstorm in the car and take a chance someone will pass by and stop to help her. That’s where she first meets Jay Tiernan. He invites Nadia to walk with him to the nearest village as it is not far away, according to his map. When they get there they find a local pub and negotiate with the drunken landlord to spend the night in his one spare room as the storm looks set to continue overnight. The attraction between them is undeniable but Nadia already has a boyfriend and is not the cheating type, so, even though they end up sharing the same bed at the pub, nothing more than familiar chatter and banter happens between them. Soon after she makes it home safely, Nadia is unceremoniously dumped by her boyfriend!

A year and a half later, by chance, she bumps into Jay again, but this time she is single and it is he who has responsibilities. Jay has moved into Nadia’s home town and is renovating a property there. Soon their lives become a tangled mix of working together, longing for each other and indecision. To make matters even more complicated, Nadia’s boyfriend has moved back home having given up his life in Hollywood. He wants Nadia back and is determined to get her. Eventually, Nadia realises she has some difficult choices to make.

The thing I enjoy most about Jill Mansell’s books is the way all of her characters play such a big role in the story she is telling. They are not peripheral to the plot, they are an integral part of it and at times one could be forgiven for wondering who the main character is. Nadia has two sisters, Claire the selfish artist and Tilly the sensible teenager, an eccentric, irresponsible mother who abandoned all of her daughters when they were babies and who changes lovers almost annually, an understanding, kind father who is shy and steadfast, an irrepressible grandmother who brought the girls up and who has been hiding a dark secret for over half a century, a supermodel boyfriend who gained fame and fortune after Nadia entered him into a modelling competition and Jay, the handsome, successful business man who ends up becoming Nadia’s boss. There are other characters at the centre of this story, too. Even though they are not main characters, they are so well drawn they could well be.

Nadia Knows Best is a delightful read and Jill Mansell does not disappoint with the writing, the plot or the ending. I particularly loved the last scene in the book which made me laugh out loud.

This book is definitely a keeper for me!

9.6/10

Thank you to the folks at Sourcebooks for sending me a copy of Nadia Knows Best to review.

The Secret Dreams of Sarah Jane Quinn (Harper and Lyttle Series no. 2) - Sharon Gerlach

Sarah Jane Quinn works at Harper and Lyttle in an office full of work cubes. She has lots of dreams and longs, one day, to own the bed and breakfast inn she stayed in as a child. She also yearns to catch the attention of her work-mate, Collie Tate, who she has an enormous crush on. Collie, however, has other priorities. As a single dad his life is dominated by a custody battle for his child which consumes his thoughts and attention. Sarah finds herself way down on his list of concerns. She has a fraught relationship with her family and her sister is always number one in her mother’s eyes. Sarah realises she is only useful at family gatherings to help with the food preparation and the washing up.

It seems, that all her life she has been well down everybody’s list of priorities and one of her biggest dreams is to one day be someone’s number one concern. So, when Gus Haldermann shows a great interest in Sarah, she is flattered and bemused at his attention. She cannot help but find the handsome and charismatic director of Human Resources rather irresistible.

Then one day, Sarah is brutally assaulted at work by a violent stalker. She barely survives the attack and it takes her a long time to recover. During this time she realises she must choose between the two men in her life and re-evaluate her priorities, especially if she is to one day be top of anyone’s list.

All I can say is; I loved, loved, loved, this book! Not only was the story interesting but the characters were so well drawn, by the end of the story I felt as if I worked at Harper & Lyttle with them all myself. The dialogue was spot on, too. If Sharon Gerlach has not had some experience working in an office with cubes, I would be really surprised. She captured the humour, wit and politics of office life so succinctly that it was like listening in over the wall. At times the repartee was laugh out loud funny and I was completely enthralled. I also loved the ending of the story and it did not disappoint.

I found this book on Amazon for free. It is the best free download I have ever had from Amazon and I will definitely look out, and pay for, other books in the Harper & Lyttle series and by Sharon Gerlach

9.9/10

Wedding Season , Katie Fforde

I'm on a roll reading chic-lit books at the moment and have just finished my very first Katie Fforde book, Wedding Season, which I really enjoyed. The story is very simple and the outcome really predictable, but then, it is a total fairytale, so what else do you expect?



There are three girls who have formed a relationship with each other by working together on weddings. Sarah is the super organised, wedding planner who does not believe in love, Elsa is an accomplished dress designer who is painfully shy and always wears black in order to blend into the background and Bron is a multi-talented make-up artist, hairdresser and cake maker who is caught in a loveless relationship that she would prefer not to be in. So......bring on Hugo the mysterious, who is a well connected internationally renowned photographer, Laurence the Reliable, who is a non drinker and always called upon to be the Best Man at friends weddings and James the unkempt gardener, who is also a gifted art designer and floral artist. Voila! You know as well as I do what is going to happen and the pleasure of reading this book is that along the way some amusing things occur to the main characters and lots of other interesting people are introduced to the story. I particularly liked Fen and Rupert, Pat and her cooking pals and Mrs Lennox-Feathersone.




The characters are well drawn and the situations they find themselves in are on the whole, more or less, believable. There are a couple of things that I could not quite take on face value and had to put down to artistic license - one is that Elsa manages to make and enhance, in less than two weeks, the replica of a dress which had originally taken her two years to make from start to finish and somehow, Bron, who had had some previous success making and decorating train engine birthday cakes, manages to understand how to design, cook and decorate one of the most elaborate wedding cakes I have ever heard described and she had never actually seen the original cake herself. This all adds to the 'cuteness' of the book, in my opinion. It is a fairytale after all, so why not have a little bit of the impossible in there too! The only thing that did grate on my nerves a little was the number of times Ms Fforde linked the word 'professional' to Sarah's character. The picture portrayed is that as Sarah is a professional she could not possibly be in love, too, almost as if being 'a professional' and being in love with someone were mutually exclusive........I couldn't quite get my head around the thought process.



I can forgive all of these small things, though, because this is such a light hearted, easy, summer read which deserves to be consumed whilst sitting in the garden on a warm sunny afternoon, book in one hand and a glass of chilled white wine in the other. Lovely!



Have you read this or any other Katie Fforde books?

Which is your favourite Fforde book?

Romance novels - Love them or hate them ?