But I Smile Anyway…

And November is done. That means Christmas is upon us!

This month was filled with excitement, with my book release, going back to school, observations, school craziness, and our 23rd wedding anniversary. Hubby Dearest excelled with his gift… a ReMarkable e-notebook tablet. It is so cool!

The big question is, what did I read, and did I manage to write anything?

I started the month with no ARCS, so another month to put a dent in that TBR of mine. Then I got signed up for a few tours in the next few months, so I read a mixture!

I tried very hard to write something for my next project, but if I am honest with you, school has taken over my brain, at the moment… Plus getting to grips with promoting In God’s Hands! Words will flow, soon enough!

I read 10 books, all in all.

The One Who Wrote Destiny by Nikesh Shukla
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

I’ve read a few of Nikesh Shukla’s books, and when I saw this was another one he had written, I was eager to read it.
I don’t know about other readers, but certain premises pull me in when reading blurbs, and the fact that this was a book about a British Indian with roots in Kenya was my hook. I guess we look for stories where we might be able to connect with the characters, and here I am, a British Indian with roots in Kenya.
Though interestingly told, the story wasn’t entirely true to that blurb, as it is 25% about Neha, that girl diagnosed with cancer who wants to delve deeper into the possibility of destiny and whether it is a thing.
The other 75% is split between the views of 3 other key characters: some set in the past, some in the present, which all add to the story’s layers.
First, it is about Mukesh, Neha’s dad, who recently arrived in the UK from Kenya, and how he settled and met Nisha, Neha’s mum.
Then comes Neha, and the discovery of her illness, and how she tries to come to terms with it,
The next is Raks, Neha’s twin brother, after her death, and how he handles his grief and last wishes.
The final segment is through the eyes of Ba, Neha and Rak’s maternal grandmother, and it focuses on a week when the children were very young after their mother had passed away.
It was a slow start, and there is much about the racism faced and the uphill struggle of the early immigrants, which is returned again and again.
I did get into it, but I don’t think I enjoyed it as much as I thought I would.

A woman gets caught up in the evil clutches of a Social Media scandal, with disappearing family members, the sudden appearance of a baby, and a threat to her life.
Some may say this is a farfetched storyline, but as the mother of teenagers, I found it shockingly real. The influence people, influencers, have on young, impressionable minds, and even those older, is immense and can be extremely negative if not checked up on.
I was fully immersed in the story, and yes, it was extreme. However, it highlights how the effects of very real influencers (I shall not name names) can alter the perceptions and thinking of large members of the public and just how bad things can get.
Misogyny, sexism, and control are all explored fantastically.
Well done, DK – I loved it!

My So-Called Bollywood Life by Nisha Sharma
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved this cute delve into Winnie Mehta’s life. A student, about to head to college to continue fostering her love of all things cinema, especially Bollywood, she’s also dealing with her fate, or destiny, as predicted by her family pundit.
Winnie fights with her inner Bollywood heroine as she tries to determine whether her destiny is Raj or her future is Dev.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, an easy read with a tasty dose of Indian masala!
The references to Bollywood films that I have watched already ignited the need to go and find them on whatever streaming service possible, so I could watch them!

Releasing 23rd January, 2025

Kiley will be joining me for a Book and a Brew in January, so I shall save my review for then, but it is another 5 stars from me. I love the Borrow A Bookshop Series!

Closest Kept by Kitty Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A very different story to the previous book, Prickly Company, which I read and enjoyed earlier this year.
Closest Kept is a story of a woman with secrets. Secrets she has kept hidden for the whole of her adult life. Secrets that keep threatening to spill.
Lily and Inga are best friends. They are artists, struggling to make a living in the big wide world, but they keep going, in the hope that one day their dreams will come true.
Both women have reasons for not trusting, but they have faith in one another.
A drunken night out introduces them to Matt and Alex, and after a quick regroup in the ladies, Inga pairs herself off with Matt, leaving Lily with Alex.
They end up in happy relationships until things happen that threaten to push Lily to tell the truth about her own childhood, especially when her little sister turns up. Oh, and also wondering whether she really got the right guy…
I was so torn for Lily. She had such an enormous burden on her, her whole life, and no-one she felt she could share with. And the feeling that you might be thinking of your best friend’s partner in the wrong way can’t be an easy situation to be in, either.
There is a lot of trauma in this.
It’s not a light-hearted read, but a very well written, solid read.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an ARC.
Releasing 6th May, 2025

A review will follow as I am part of the blog tour in January. 🙂

Radha and Jai’s Recipe for Romance by Nisha Sharma
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Radha is a kathak dancer who loses her will after learning something about her mother’s behaviour that could cost Radha her reputation.
Jai is a Bollywood dancer and captain of a dancing group which is lacking a choreographer.
Both end up at the same school, with similar goals but different motives.
Of course, there are family issues. (When are there not in an Indian household?) and there is romance. And food. Lots and lots of lovely food!
Lovely to read another story with loads of Bollywood and Indian cultural references, as well as get to hear about some characters from a previous book.
I enjoyed this easy read.

The Re-Write by Lizzie Damilola Blackburn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A great story featuring the ever-popular reality show arc as a side plot to a rocky romance.
Temi is an aspiring writer who’s struggling to get a publishing deal. To make ends meet, she ghostwrites.
Wale is her ex-boyfriend. She thought they had something special, and it meant even more to her, as a woman with generous curves, to be attractive to such a gorgeous specimen of manhood.
But something happens, causing them to split. Wale ends up on TV on a reality dating show, hopping from woman to woman, rubbing Temi’s face in the misery of their breakup.
She writes. It’s cathartic. Words that will never see the light of day.
Then she is approached to ghostwrite a memoir for a young reality TV star who wants to redeem his reputation…
Guess who it turns out to be?
I won’t go into any more story detail, but there is so much more to this story than a good-looking guy trying to make himself look better and a struggling author struggling to make a name for herself.
An enjoyable read, touching on young carers, alcoholism, parental expectations, and second-chance romances.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Books for an ARC.

Releasing February 13th, 2024

Collar Me Crazy: Heartwarming Stories of the Dogs Who Rescue Us! by Kay Bratt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Book 2 in the new multi-author Dragonfly Cove and Dog Park series.
The series follows a litter of labrador puppies and the households who adopt them.
Kay Bratt starts the first puppy story (book 1 sets the scene) with aspiring author Emily, who finds herself dog mama to a new pup, Daisy. She’s not sure whether she can do this whole dog thing, but she somehow gets sucked into another dog-related tragedy when she meets a girl whose new puppy, bought from a pet store, dies within a week.
The story explores the awfulness of illegal dog breeding and puppy mills and a blossoming romance for Emily. Of course, we get to know the delightfully bouncy pup Daisy and meet Valor, a brave soldier of a dog.
A beautiful start to the series.

Releasing 1st January, 2025

The Favourite by Fran Littlewood
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It’s an age-old question. Do parents have favourites?
The Favourite follows the story of three sisters, together with their families and parents, to celebrate with a fancy naming ceremony for a young child.
Here they are in an idyllic setting, in the forest, staying in a state-of-the-art glass house for a week, when something happens that raises a question in everyone’s mind: Does Dad really have a favourite?
All three women have vivid memories of their childhoods, and all three’s memories have differences.
It was an intriguing premise, but I found it a little hard to stay engaged.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Randon House for an ARC.

Releasing 12th June 2025

So, tell me what you have been reading, and what caught your eye from the above!