You know, this time last year, I said I’d creep into 2024, because the last few years have steadily brought tougher challenges in or lives, and though I’m a positive person, I didn’t want to overdo the optimism, but cautiously bring the new year in.
And I did. We crept into 2024, hoping it would bring a better world for us all.
Creeping was a good plan, because look at what is happening around us. There is still war and atrocious conflict in Gaza and the Ukraine. The UK got a new government, yet nothing has changed. Cost of living has left more people in poverty or living on the edge of it. The US brought ‘that man’ back.
Still, there were good moments. 🎉 My third book release 🎉 My baby girl overcoming so much to pass all her GCSEs and embark upon her A-Levels 🎉 My son doing so well in his Apprenticeships 🎉 Welcoming crazy kitten Minnie Kaur into the fold 🎉 Went on my first proper abroad holiday (as in beach, and no other commitments!) in 20 years with my daughter 🎉 Attending the London Book Fair, again,and being surrounded by all the bookish folk and spending 3 days at the RNA conference, meeting so many kindred spirits
😢 And we’ve had our own ups and downs, too. Work has been tough. Certain elements of personal life have meant changes along the way that felt hard initially. My health, and that of others close to me, has suffered.
✨ But still, we finish the year, again, in a much better place than we were.
✨ I finished book three, and published in, and took a break from writing words (as requested by my little girl!
✨ I took time for myself, in different ways, because if I’m not in a good place, I can’t be there for others
And so we come to the Eve of the year 2025.
I feel we can’t live being cautious forever, so I’m stepping in, with a little more confidence.
We have good things to look forward to.
I have new, exciting ideas for my writing.
I’m going to hit a half century, too! Eeek!
And my wish for you, all, and myself, is that 2025 is a better year for all.
Have a happy new year, everyone! See you on the other side, when I’ll add my Word Of The Year!
Okay, now who went and pressed fast forward on the year? Come on, own up. How is it the end of December already?
Tis the season to be jolly and all that, and what is more festive than the lead-up to Christmas in a school, especially with the younger children? We’ve been making all sorts of Christmas crafts, had a Festive Fayre, performed a nativity, and juggled plenty of absences as the lurgy hit, and staff have scheduled days off, too. And then, school finishes in time for the craziness of the holidays. I’m just glad we aren’t back into school until the 6th Jan!
The big question is, what did I read, and did I manage to write anything?
This month, I realised I really cannot say no! I have numerous book tours in January, so there was a bit of reading for them, as well as everything else. (Hence the lack of actual reviews on here as I am saving them for the tour posts!
Writing – I thought I would end this month saying no new words, but I would be lying… I have written a tentative beginning for what could be book 4 in the Rishtay Series, as well as started a plan for a separate project that would be a two-book venture… Just hoping my publisher is loving the ideas, too!
I read man books… it totals 116 this year!
Blog tour review on 12th January
Blog Tour Review coming 18th January
Blog tour review in A Book & a Brew coming 19th January – Five star, by the way!
Book 11 in the Hart’s Ridge Series by Kay Bratt, and it’s another page-turner! This story is just as good, if a little different, than the rest of the series. We are still focussing on the Grey family; however, this time, Taylor, our usual police officer, is still incapacitated after an incident in the previous book. The crime in question is under Deputy Shane Weaver, though he still feels he needs Taylor’s support. A quadruple homicide is the case this book is dealing with, along with Taylor and her own family’s issues. Sensitively told and page turning, as is standard for a Hart’s Ridge novel.
I always loved Victoria Scott’s books, and she’s 100% done it again with this one, the Storyteller’s Daughter! A dual timeline story told from the points of view of Nita Bineham in the 1940s and of her great niece Beth in the present age. Nita was a bit of an enigma during her time. She does not have the figure and looks preferred in those times, but she comes from a family of means. Her mother laments that the war has not given her daughter a chance to be presented to society, meaning less chance of a suitable match. On top of it all, fewer men are around, as they are all being called up. Her father arranges for Nita to escape the house for a few days here and there, helping at the local paper. What was meant to be a brief break becomes a massive part of her life as she embarks on a junior reporter career. On her deathbed, Nita requests that her great-niece, Beth, find a box in the attic with secrets for her to unfold. This strange task comes at the perfect time for Beth, though she doesn’t realise it. Suffering the news that her marriage is about to end and that her job in the family business may not be there for her, she embarks upon an adventure. She mourns her great aunt and tries to piece clues together to solve the cryptic puzzle that Nita has left her. Pages were turned quicker and quicker as I became absorbed in this story. I’ve always loved dual timelines done well and throwing the war years into it, and I am hooked! The way Nita and Beth’s lives and connections come full circle kept me reading. Fantastic story! Many thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an ARC.
Anything by Amanda Prowse is an automatic buy/read for me, and though This One Life has a different feel, it was by no means anything less than a brilliant read. A dual timeline provides us with the current story and the background as we meet Edith-Madelaine, a young child living in the East End of London. Although she has little in her home, love surrounds her. Fast forward to now, we meet Madelaine, the exquisitely put-together interior designer with a career to dream of, wealth, respect, and suitors she can pick, as well as a new chapter about to begin in her work and life abroad. We are then taken back to eight years before, when Madelaine, as she now likes to be known, is facing a significant decision in her life. Madelaine comes from a small, loving family, but expectations and disappointments remain regardless of how much her parents care for her. It’s hard to be a woman who has it all. Amanda Prowse has sensitively explored this topic, and the lesson I learned from this story is that it is possible, but a life like that will always involve compromises. I read it in a day, and the ending did leave me all warm and fuzzy.
Releasing 7th January 2024
Another 29th January Blog Tour read!
So, tell me what you have been reading, and what caught your eye from the above!
This is just a quick announcement to let you know about Bookapalooza 2024.
GOOD BOOKS. GOOD VIBES. HOLIDAY CHEER & GIVEAWAYS GALORE!
I’m part of a HUGE DAY OF GIVEAWAYS and want you to join in the fun and a chance to win books from over 50 authors. My Book Friends is hosting their annual SEASON OF GIVING BOOKAPALOOZA on Sunday, December 8th! Tell all your reader friends and join My Book Friends today and then mark your calendar for the fun that takes place all day long. #MBFBookapalooza2024
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’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!
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!
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 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.
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.
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.
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!
But I Smile Anyway... 