But I Smile Anyway…

Er, hello? Where did April go? One third of the year done, and only 8 months left!

This month, we had a school holiday for two weeks, so I got some more reading in. (It’s a good thing since I have so many blog tours to read ARCS for!)

I was also determined to do some writing, and I have started a teeny bit, but not as much as I hoped.

Now, back to this month’s reads…

How to Fix a Broken Heart by Nicola May
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

TW: Miscarriage/Loss/Grief/Rape
Oh, what an emotional read!
I’m used to slightly more lighthearted small village stories by Nicola May, but this one still had a community feel and a deeper thread.
Gracie, the FMC, is reeling from a tremendous loss and feels that she doesn’t have the support of her partner, Lewis. A betrayal from him is the last straw, and she starts from scratch in her 30s.
I don’t want to sit here and regurgitate the story, but it is a beautifully sad story with an uplifting ending.
Gracie is going through such a tough time, and it resonated with me, as I expect it will with many other women out there who have suffered a miscarriage. The grief from that can take a long time to overcome. She became a character who supported other women in a similar situation and hammered home the message that miscarriage, whether an early loss or a later one, hits hard for all.
Throughout the story, she meets several people, and one is Ed, whom she begins to date. His situation is precarious. (Again, I’m not saying anything because – SPOILERS!) But he is a person who helps build her back up again.
We also have a parallel story of Maya and her psychiatrist lover, which weaves in and out of Gracie’s with ease as hidden connections are revealed.
All in all it was a great read, and I championed Gracie from the off!

Released 16th April, 2025

The Best Days of Our Lives: A gorgeous, uplifting, romantic read from Helen Rolfe by Helen Rolfe
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh, what a beautiful, sad, yet heartwarming story!
Mallory receives some devastating news and just knows that she has to ‘get her ducks in a row’ as her father used to say, before life for her and those she loves the most implodes.
There are two stories entwined within this book; one following two sisters, Rose and Gigi, who become estranged after a misunderstanding, and one, thirty years later, of Mallory, and her cousin Penny as they try hard to bring their mothers back together, using a special wedding dress.
for Mallory, this is a chance to not only get her mother, Gigi, and her aunt, Rose, back in touch, but to finally tell them her awful news.
I was hooked from the beginning.
The story covers a few topics, such as racism, loss, grief, but we also have more than one second chance romance touched upon, too.
There is such sadness within the story, but it is filled with light-hearted humour as well.
The situation Mallory is in is one no mother would ever want to be put in, and that made my heart bleed for her. I feared for an ending that would have me in tears, but instead, hope and positivity shone through.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an ARC.

Released 18th April, 2025

The House of Lost Whispers by Jenni Keer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The moment I saw this book up for review, I jumped at the chance because I have enjoyed every one of Jenni Keer’s novels, and I love the way historical aspects are woven into her fantastic fiction.
The House of Lost Whispers is no different. I think it is one of my favourite Jenni Keer books!
There is a dual timeline, with a difference. Olivia Davenport, the FMC and daughter of a famous author, is grieving after losing her parents tragically as passengers on the ill-fated Titanic.
Olivia is taken to the village of Merriford Lode to live with her legal guardian and her father’s best friend, Sir Hugo, in his large manor house. Olivia loses herself in the fantasy world created in her mind until she is reintroduced to four sons of the family, one younger, one a similar age, and two much older.
She finds herself drawn to a particular wing of the house and requests that she be allowed to stay there, displacing a young gardener.
The dual timeline bit comes here, where Olivia finds someone else here, not a ghost, but someone who appears to live in the same place, but in a different dimension.
He’s the same gardener she displaced, Seth Tanner, and as they go through time, they build an unlikely friendship that sees them through personal ups and downs and the First World War. They never see each other but are strangely able to hear one another.
Like the movie The Butterfly Effect, one difference in their lives at a key moment garners different effects to their lives.
You have a bit of history, along with fiction, a bit of a murder mystery and a little paranormal romance thrown in.
I was hooked from the beginning and loved it.
I’m sure I won’t be the only one hoping and wishing for a secret portal to open up, allowing these two very different individuals to meet…
I’m not saying anything else. Don’t want to ruin the story for anyone, but it was pure magic!
Can’t wait for whatever comes next, Jenni!

Released 27th April, 2025

I’ll be on the blog tour for this at the beginning of May. It’s a great story and another 5 star read for me!

Publishing 1st May, 2025

Another Blog Tour early in May!

Releasing 3rd May, 2025

Cover Story by Mhairi McFarlane
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Bel is an undercover journalist, recently moved to a small office in Manchester where she works with a colleague, Aaron. An intern, Connor, slightly older than the usual interns, comes to join the team, and he ends up entwined in her professional life and possibly more.
I’ll admit that it took me a little while to get into the story, but after the first few chapters, I was right in there.
Told with a dual POV, we learn about Bel and Connor, their pasts, and their current situations.
Yes, there is romance, but not conventional, and there is the exposé that both characters find themselves investigating, with a sleazy mayor.
Both characters are a bit damaged from past relationships, and it’s great to read how they move from disinterested colleagues, to friends, to, potentially, more.
Well written, with a more serious storyline attached to the developing romance, Another brilliant book by Mhairi McFarlane.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an ARC.

Releasing 8th May, 2025

Another read I’ll be reviewing fully on a blog tour soon!

Releasing 6th May, 2025

Another Blog Tour treat for next month, by an author I am extremely fond of!

Releasing May 10th, 2025

The Midnight Bookshop by Amanda James
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Give me a book about books, bookshops, and book lovers; you know I’m there. Add in the fact that there may be a magical bookshop, and I’m a goner!
Amanda James’ books have delighted me over the last few years, and The Midnight Bookshop’s blurb hooked me immediately!
It’s not a straightforward story. Three main characters, each with their troubles, and a bookshop they had never seen before, bring them together.
Adelaide is a married woman stuck in a painful marriage with a narcissistic husband who spares no opportunity to put her down.
Jo is lucky on the face of it. She has everything. A magnificent house, parents who are more than well off and leave her to want for nothing, no inclination to work… but she feels no connection to her mother, and her mother constantly belittles her.
Kye is a young man stuck in a life he hates because of circumstances. An unwell mother, and an overbearing brother who has overridden all of his dreams, and he is in trouble of getting sucked up into worse scenarios.
In a somewhat fantastical way, the bookshop helps each character to explore the power of books, and the owner, Fay, helps each of her new readers to interpret the messages the books they choose wish to convey.
There is fantasy, romance, family expectation, and much more within!
Once I was into the story, I didn’t want to climb out! I want to visit that bookshop, too, and let a book choose me, so I can ‘edit’ my life, too!
Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins, One More Chapter for an ARC.

Releasing May 16th, 2025

An Italian Wedding Adventure by Leonie Mack
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I always enjoy Leoni Mack’s European romantic adventures because they feature some physical activity I am highly unlikely to participate in. The descriptions are more than enough for me!
This time, I was transported to Italy with Sophie-Leigh, the FMC, a wedding planner, as she was instructed to help plan a wedding for two clients who wanted more than your average destination wedding. They are looking for the thrill of a climb, with commitment at the top of a peak, preferably with a cross there.
Memories of a past romance threaten to take over her mind, as Sophie begins the organisation, those memories become a reality as she is faced with the man who effectively popped her climbing cherry, and then her heart, after a whirlwind romance.
Combining the climbing and romance, we are taken on a journey, and several climbs where Sophie is paired with Andreas to scout suitable locations, with plenty of time to unpick and rehash their break-up.
As I always say in reviews, you don’t want me telling you the plot; that is for you to read, but you want an opinion. Mine is that this is a fantastic read, with a hint of spice, and a shed load of precarious situations where there is a second chance, close proximity and one-bed tropes explored!
Thoroughly enjoyed the read.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an ARC.

Releasing 8th May, 2025

Publishing in May, and I am on the Blog tour for this one, so you’ll have to wait until 18th May for the full review !

Publishing 15th May, 2025

Long Story Short by Victoria Walters
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Okay, grumpy-sunshine/enemies to lovers, eat your heart out!
I’ve read a few of Victoria Walters’ books now, and this was precisely the kind of story I would have expected.
Another story in the publishing world which I LOVE!
Our FMC is Freya. She’s a true romantic, as well as a romance fan. Working as an assistant at a Literary agency is a dream for her, and she aspires to be an agent one day.
Enter our MMC, Jake, a grumpy but popular romance author who is one of Freya’s boss’s biggest clients, and also out of favour with the romance community at this stage, because of some unsavoury comments about the genre.
By a twist of fate, Freya ends up on a business trip to New York, a place she has dreamt of going to, accompanying Jake, with the sole goal of repairing his reputation at a Romance conference.
OMG! So much to love, here!
We always go into a romance expecting a HEA or HFN, and the journey to that ending makes or breaks a story.
The difficulties that both Freya and Jake go through during this trip make for gripping reading. I finished this in one day! Plus, there is a bit of a spice factor going on!!
And featuring a previous book’s character was another little bonus. I love revisiting characters and hearing how they are getting on. 🙂

Publishing 19th May, 2025

Yet another one I am on the Blog Tour for next month!

Publishing 14th May, 2025

Blog tour post coming in May for this one, too!

Publishing 20th May, 2025

14 books this month! Which one did you fancy?