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

The Chocolate Lovers’ Club and The Chocolate Lovers’ Diet – Carole Matthews

Lucy Lombard loves chocolate and is the founding member of The Chocolate Lovers’ Club. Fellow members include Autumn, Nadia and Chantal and they all agree that chocolate can cure anything from illness to a broken heart. They get together regularly at their little haven, a café called Chocolate Heaven which is base and almost a second home for them. They even have a code for calling crisis meetings – whenever a text message reading “Chocolate Crisis” goes out, they drop everything and head to Chocolate Heaven to find out what’s happening.

Lucy’s long-time boyfriend, Marcus, has trouble staying faithful to her and as hard as she tries she cannot seem to break it off with him permanently. Her boss also has a bit of a thing for Lucy and flirts with her constantly, “Crush” (as he has been titled by the girls) is very handsome and Lucy does not mind the attention, at all. Autumn is trying to save the world, one drug addict at a time, through a craft programme she teaches. Unfortunately, her brother, Richard is also fond of drugs and regularly brings trouble to her door. Nadia’s husband is addicted to online gambling and he pushes her to the limit by landing them in serious debt whilst trying to land the big win. Chantal is stuck in a loveless marriage and although she cares for her husband, he is cold and distant and sometimes she cannot help looking elsewhere for comfort. Add all these ladies together, mix in some divine chocolate recipes and what comes out is adventure and entertainment.

I loved the Chocolate Lovers’ Club when I first read it a year or so ago and had meant to pick up the sequel, The Chocolate Lovers’ Diet, but just hadn’t come across it. Then the lovely Carole Matthews offered a giveaway of a signed copy of each book, plus a tea cup carrying the slogan “Go away I’m reading” and a pair of chocolate shoes! (see photo above) I just couldn’t resist entering and was beside myself with joy when Lovely Kev (Carole’s other half) drew out my name as recipient. The first thing I did when I received the parcel was make a cup of tea using my new mug, begin to re-read The Chocolate Lovers' Club and then I feasted on The Chocolate Lovers’ Diet for the first time, all within the space of a week! I had a lovely time.

I have read and enjoyed a lot of Carole Matthews’ books, she has published over 20 so far and these two did not disappoint. I love the way the girls get themselves into shocking fixes and have to depend on each other to get out of them. Both books are laugh out loud funny, and I especially love Lucy’s disastrous escapades during her company’s team building exercises. Even though the stories and events are humourous, underneath it all they are about women with big problems who look to their friendship (and chocolate) for the strength and support to get them through. Carole Mathews handles some serious issues with humour and charm and I know I will read both books again for the sheer entertainment value they provide.

You can sign up for Carole Matthews newsletter on her website here at http://www.carolematthews.com and follow her on facebook here at https://www.facebook.com/CaroleMatthewsBooks. Carole is funny, friendly and takes time out to listen and interact with her readers and fb friends. I have enjoyed every one of her books I have read and hope she will carry on writing and long continue to keep us entertained with her work.

Table for Seven – Whitney Gaskell

On New Year’s Eve Fran and Will Parrish host a dinner party for a few of their friends and have the idea that they will serve a course on the hour every hour until midnight and so the party begins. All the guests have a lovely time and agree that this is a great way to spend an evening. That is when the Dinner for Seven Club is born.

As time goes by and the dinner parties become monthly events, it soon becomes clear that there is much more going on in the lives of the Table for Seven Club members than it first appears. Will and Fran’s marriage seems rock solid, but, the strain of dealing with an uncommunicative teenage daughter and what seems to be the methodical, uneventful passing of the years starts to produce cracks in their relationship. Audrey, is usually the target of Fran’s well intended match making but she needs to find her own way to move on after being widowed seven years previously. Audrey and Fran’s perfectionist friend, Jamie, the second wife of Mark, suspects him of having an affair. Will’s oldest friend, Coop, is a confirmed bachelor and doesn’t know how to handle being in love so steers well away from it. Will and Fran’s neighbour, Leland, a retired Judge, enjoys the company. It is a change for him to spend time with younger people and he brings wise counsel and insightful guidance to the group. The Dinner for Seven Club changes all of their lives forever.

This is a lovely book about friendship, relationships, love, emotional support and of course, food! Whitney Gaskell weaves the characters together perfectly and it is instantly clear how each person is connected to the other. As the story develops so the relationships between them all change and grow. Some bonds get stronger, some start to fracture and some break altogether. It is because of the prose and realistic conversation that this book is so enjoyable. It is funny and poignant at times and provides the reader a great way to escape for a few hours.

Table for Seven is the first book of Whitney Gaskell’s I have read and it will not be the last. I checked out her website to see what else she has written and found that she writes a really funny blog too. I love her sense of humour, wit and the frequent, seething road rage she feels when in the school drop off queue. She doesn’t mind using the odd profanity to make a point clearer and sharper, which in my mind puts her right into the “my kinda gal” category. Check out her website here: http://whitneygaskell.com

Table for Seven will be released in April 2013 and is available for pre-order on Amazon.com

9.8/10