I am thrilled to be on the Blog Tour for Happily Ever After by Jane Lovering!
Andi Glover loves nothing more than a good book.
Any book in fact because when you’re raised by unconventional parents who think school’s for squares, alongside a deeply conventional sister who escapes home as soon as she can, fiction is eminently preferable to reality.
The only problem is that fiction isn’t the best way to learn about the real world. When Andi starts her new live-in job at Templewood Hall for the eccentric Lady Dawe and her enigmatic son Hugo, it’s tempting to think she’s fallen into the pages of one of her favourite gothic novels.
But the plot twists at Templewood Hall are stranger than fiction and it’s not long before Andi questions if she’s living in a romance novel or a whodunnit. Bumps in the night, a missing heir, ghostly apparitions and secrets that have been kept for generations – the mysteries mount up. Then there’s the inscrutable gardener who seems to appear when needed – is Andi right to hope for a happily-ever-after end to her story?
Happily Ever After is a Gothic-inspired mystery with a slow-burn romance that picks up pace towards the end. Andi arrives at Templewood Hall and is accosted by a rude gardener before she is interviewed for a position that she hopes she’ll get because she has no qualifications for anything else and nowhere else to go. She lived a pretty unconventional life with her parents, moving around regularly and living in a converted bus. An opportunity arises for her to have a more normal life, though I’m not sure her position at Templewood Hall is anything close to normal! Tasked with cataloguing the many books in Lady Tanith Dawe’s library, Andi lets her love of books create a whimsical dream of falling in love and marrying the rather gorgeous son and heir, Hugo. However, she is covertly given the real reason for Lady Dawes’ wanting the library organised, and it has a bit of a twist. Is there romance? Yes, there is, but it doesn’t pick up speed until the book’s latter pages. But Andi’s love of the classics is evident in her dreams of what might be, and the chapter headings are a great nod to those classics. Some may find Andi a difficult character to like. She doesn’t always appear to help herself, but things change as the story progresses, and she has the ending she deserves. I tell you what, that Lady Dawes – she is a piece of work! A bit deluded! For me, the hero of the book was the feline, called The Master (we never find out his real name!), who smells of fish and takes a real shine to Andi, being her shadow, trying to sleep in her bed, and even getting her out of some scrapes! Many thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an ARC. Purchase Link https://mybook.to/happilyever
Author Bio –
Jane Lovering is a bestselling and multi-award winning romantic comedy writer. Most recently Jane won the RNA Contemporary Romantic Novel Award in 2023 with A Cottage Full of Secrets. She lives in Yorkshire and has a cat and a bonkers terrier, as well as five children who have now left home.
Today, I am thrilled to be a part of the blog tour for Karen Louise Hollis’s most recent book, The Whitlock Close Weddings!
It’s 1982 and the residents of Whitlock Close have an exciting few months ahead of them. The Lincolnshire village is looking forward to two weddings! Former school teacher Sarah Willington is set to marry Mark Thomas, guitarist of the successful boy band The Unflappables, and no expense is being spared. The second wedding will be a quieter one, but who exactly is Norman marrying – Nora or Mabel? Twelve-year-old Louise has to decide about her gymnastics career, following a shocking development with her friend Jayne’s health. Plus what on earth is going on with her boyfriend Toby? Meanwhile, there are people moving in and moving out, cats going missing and a big Christmas trip away to the new Silver Sands Holiday Camp. It’s going to be another eventful few months for the residents of the eight semi- detached houses in Whitlock Close.
My first foray to Whitlock Close, and the 80s setting gave me a real nostalgic blast from the past! It’s like Neighbours, in book form, as we move from house to house, learning all that is happening in the different families. What lovely community spirit shown within!
About the author Karen Louise Hollis was born in Lincoln, England in 1969. She began writing from an early age, being the daughter of two journalists. She is a mum to five children and has three grandchildren. She has had over twenty-five books published and has written about a variety of topics including motherhood, poetry, Doctor Who and gymnastics. The Whitlock Close Weddings is her fourth novel, following Welcome to Whitlock Close (2022), Starting Again in Silver Sands Bay (2023) and Over The Garden Fence (2023).
I am delighted to be a part of the book tour for the release of this translated title, Small By Rijula Das, published by Amazon Crossing.
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In the red-light district of Shonagachhi, Lalee dreams of trading a life of penury and violence for one of relative luxury as a better-paid ‘escort’. Her long-standing client, Trilokeshwar ‘Tilu’ Shau is an erotic novelist hopelessly in love with her. When a young girl who lives next door to Lalee gets brutally murdered, a spiral of deceit and crime begins to disturb the fragile stability of this underworld’s existence. One day, without notice, Lalee’s employer and landlady, the formidable Shefali Madam, decrees that she must now service wealthier clients at plush venues outside the familiar walls of the brothel. But the new job is fraught with unknown hazards and drives Lalee into a nefarious web of prostitution, pimps, sex rings, cults and unimaginable secrets that endanger her life and that of numerous women like her. As the local Sex Workers’ Collective’s protests against government and police inaction and calls for justice for the deceased girl gain fervour, Tilu Shau must embark on a life-altering misadventure to ensure Lalee does not meet a similarly savage fate. Winner of the 2021 Tata Literature Live! First Book Award – Fiction Longlisted for The JCB Prize for Literature 2021 SMALL DEATHS Rijula Das Set in Calcutta’s most fabled neighbourhood, Small Deaths is a literary noir as absorbing as it is heart-wrenching, holding within it an unforgettable story of our society’s outcasts and marking the arrival of a riveting new writer.
I was intrigued by this book after reading the blurb I was sent. A book centred around the oldest profession in time, set in the town of Shonagachhi, Calcutta, in India. We start by getting to know Tilu, an aspiring author of erotica who wants to get better recognition for more literary work. He visits the Blue Lotus in Shonagachhi whenever he can afford it to meet Lalee, his favourite concubine. A visit there ends with the other inhabitants of the house finding the body of one of the girls who lives among them. What follows is a tale of true sadness. These women don’t choose to be dragged into prostitution; however, once there, they are estranged from their loved ones due to the shame of the work they have been made to do. The other girls become their families. But nothing can stop the way society taints them and how they are looked upon as public property; the johns do whatever they want, and the madams who are there to ‘look after’ them are just as bad, selling them from one bad situation to another, and not often a better one. Here, an awful sex trafficking ring is exposed, involving a much-respected ‘holy’ man. But the violence that is used toward women is horrific. It made for uncomfortable reading, in some ways, but the sad truth is that these things do happen the world over; it’s just that we aren’t all privy to the knowledge. We see the story unfold through several viewpoints, including the above two characters, other girls from the Blue Lotus, police officers, a pimp, and some other random characters, which can be a little confusing but adds another layer to the story. An interesting but heartrending read.
About the Author
Rijula Das received her PhD in Creative Writing/prose-fiction in 2017 from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, where she taught writing for two years. She is a recipient of the 2019 Michael King Writers Centre Residency in Auckland and the 2016 Dastaan Award for her short story Notes From A Passing. Her short story, The Grave of The Heart Eater, was longlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2019. Her short fiction and translations have appeared in Newsroom, New Zealand and The Hindu. She lives and works in Wellington, New Zealand.
Author Q & A
Tell us a little bit about your book, Small Deaths? Set entirely in the Calcutta’s red light district, Small Deaths is the story of Lalee, a sex worker trafficked into the trade as a child who dreams of trading her precarious life for that of a better-paid escort. Tilu Shau, her loyal client, makes a living writing cheap erotica and dreams of literary fame and Lalee’s love. When a young woman is murdered in Lalee’s brothel, the two of them are drawn into a misadventure that threatens the fragile stability of their lives and forces them to ask what is the price of one’s right to dignity, a future and a life?
The book was originally published as A Death in Shonagachhi – what role does the setting of Shonagachhi play in your novel? Sonagachi is a neighbourhood in North Kolkata, and the largest red-light district in Asia with several hundred multi-storey brothels where more than 30,000 commercial sex workers live and work. It is rare to find works of fiction set entirely in this area, even though the neighbourhood is one of Calcutta’s oldest. The novel is a product of my doctoral research on the relationship between sexual violence on women in India and public space; I looked at how we ‘allow’ women to access public spaces, and what punishments are meted out to them when they violate the unwritten rules. The red light district in traditional, patriarchal societies is a space of contradictions. They are often the oldest of neighbourhood, well-known and yet, unacknowledged spaces. I wanted to understand the way sex workers access a city where they are invisible citizens –– how they live, die, advocate, organise and make a life that is uniquely their own.
Why was it important to you to tell this story now? Living in the world we do, it is easy to forget that women’s rights are not actually indelible and unalienable. It is easy to be lulled into a sense of security. But women’s rights, or indeed the rights of vulnerable people, irrespective of gender identity is under siege at all times, many instances of which we are witnessing at present time. The right to bodily autonomy is an unfinished fight for us, as is the constant fight for the recognition and acknowledgement of women’s labour, wherever that may take place. Stories from the margins like that of women like Lalee, because they are real, living women, are a useful and timely reminder of where we are and how easy it is to deny human rights to vulnerable people even in this age.
How do you do your research? Your research specifically looks at the connections between public space and sexual violence – how did this inform your writing of Small Deaths? There is a wealth of both academic research and case studies and interviews with the sex workers of Shonagachhi. Social welfare organisations are extremely active in the area and have extensive grassroots knowledge. As I wrote Small Deaths over 7 years, the research seeped into the work, informing the fictional narrative, and sometimes changing or adding to the course of events. In creative work research informs the lived experience of the book’s universe, but it should never get in the way of the narrative. It’s often a tight-rope walk.
Tell us more about writing truthfully about sexual violence and why it was important to write on this theme? We’ve always written about sexual violence, but how we do it, matters. What we decide to show and what we decide to leave unsaid, matters. Very often we see gratuitous, even erotic portrayal of sexual violence in fiction. As someone who has faced sexual and other forms of violence as a woman, it changes the way I could write about it. I had to ask –– at what point does writing a sexual violence scene become voyeurism? How do I write with authenticity, empathy and truth and still reserve dignity for those on whom the violence occurs? Whose eyes and heart does the chapter look through, is it the victim or the abuser? There are certain expectations when a book deals with the life of women trafficked into sex-work, but the greatest satisfaction, for me, came in subverting any pandering to trauma-porn, or a representation of abject and unabated victimhood because that is not consistent with the reality of life on the margins.
Were there news stories that particularly inspired your work? Small Deaths is inspired by real people and real events, and where reality is shocking, invention is not only unnecessary but a travesty. I wanted the book to cleave as close to reality as possible and as such, a number of real events have inspired the action in the book. The scandal of an ashram called Dera Sacha Sauda where a powerful, self-styled guru held women hostage in a warren of rooms and sexually abused them for years has inspired events in the book. The disappearances and deaths of sex workers, and the migration of women across international borders for sex work in coercive circumstances have inspired both characters and events. It is however not one event, but a landscape and an ecosystem developed over decades that this story has grown from.
Are there any books that you would recommend to explore more about the themes in your novel? There are a number of academic works that I read and referred to while writing this book. Fictional work set entirely in Shonagachhi is harder to come by.
You have translated a number of books in your work, including Nabarun Bhattacharya’s short fiction. How do you think your translation work helps to inform your writing? Translation has definitely influenced how I use language. How we use English as Indian writers is evolving as our relationship with English becomes more organic, more intertwined with our multilinguality. Reading in diverse literary traditions, as translation helps us do, also changes my relationship with narrative form and storytelling.
What made you want to become a writer? Why fiction? I’m not sure we decide to become a writer any more than we decide to become ourselves. It does take a certain amount of practice, showing up for it over decades, a lot of hard work without any promise of reward or even the assurance that one should persevere, but we write because there is no other way to exist. Fiction allows me, personally, the necessary distance from myself to explore places that would feel too exposing to do as autobiography. It is also the sheer joy of being in other people’s heads, creating characters who are entirely different from me, and watching them take-off on their adventures.
Which other writers have informed your work? It is hard to see my own influences. I often read people whose work I enjoy as a reader but as a writer, we’d be widely different. I’m a big Terry Pratchett fan. His comedic brilliance and timing is so effective and subtle that you almost don’t realise the sheer genius required to pull it off. Jeanette Wintersen, Marguerite Duras and Borges have been abiding influences.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers? To stick with it. People often think of talent as the sole variable that makes a writer, and while there is such a thing, another very important variable is the ability to stay the course. It takes time to make even a bad book, a good one can and does take time to see the light of day.
What’s next for you? I’m finishing a translation of Nabarun Bhattacharya’s novel, soon to be published by Seagull Books. After that I hope to focus on my second novel.
This second book from Victoria Scott is another amazing page-turner. Told from the viewpoint of two women, both at different ends of the same struggle, with an additional view of the judge presiding over a very heart-wrenching child custody case. Michelle is young and has suffered considerably in that short life, at the hands of an inadept social services team, who failed her, from the moment she was separated from her younger sister at the age of six. Fast forward to her late teens, and she has found herself pregnant, in a relationship with a man who has stood by her more than any of the so-called support workers she has had assigned to her. Even his questionable behaviour towards her doesn’t waiver her trust in him. However, they’re broke, live in squalor, and she knows that is no place to bring up a baby, however much she is already attached to that little being. Amelia is a woman, in a marriage tinged with sadness at the fact that they can’t have children, and the one time they thought their dream would come true ended up in the tragedy of stillbirth. A solution to both of these women’s problems could be found, in the placement of little Grace, born to Michelle. She thinks her daughter would be better off in the care of someone who could give her everything. And that someone could be Amelia, and her husband Piers, who are approached via the Foster to Adopt scheme. The thing is, nothing is ever that simple. It was, indeed a roller coaster of emotions as I read the story, following the feelings of a young woman who desperately wants to get her life, and daughter back, and a woman who knows her dream is on the cusp of becoming a reality, but everything balances on the decisions of a judge, after a drawn-out investigation. All in all, the final conclusion was what I wanted to happen, but there was so much happening in the background, as you read, even if you are of a differing opinion, you would probably agree that it was for the best. People are not always what they seem, and this book demonstrated that, perfectly. So emotional. But brilliant. Many thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
It’s always a true bonus when a series is introduced and it includes the writing of some of your favourite authors. This introductory book to The Wishing Tree Series is exactly that, and I devoured it in one sitting at 5 am this morning, as I was unable to sleep. A small, some may say, sleepy town, with some extremely interesting inhabitants, and one or two soon to be ones too, is home to a tree that those who live there say is magical. A wishing tree. Each of the authors has contributed to the building of the series with a taster, and introduction to the characters with stories of their own, soon to be blossoming into full-blown novels. From the longstanding residents to those who might just be coming back home, to newcomers, there is something to interest everyone. I am absolutely 100% excited about the following books! Each of the characters that have been focussed on has stories to tell. Stories that I want to read.
I’ll just start by putting this out there. I am gutted this is the last in the series! I thoroughly enjoyed the first twp books in the Ferry Lane series and eagerly awaited this third book, where we were able to catch up with old friends, as well as make some wonderful new ones. This book centres around Glanna, Isaac and Oliver. Glanna is a local girl by birth, but she disappeared to London as soon as she was able, wanting to spread her wings. She spreads them a bit too far, and ends up in a downward spiral of drink and high living, which ends up with her in rehab. On the cups of turning forty, with a wonderful relationship over, she heads back home, to her parents, and back to one of her first loves. Art. Isaac is a local artist. A very famous reclusive artist. And somehow, Glanna ends p making his acquaintance, during a particularly awful storm. Could he be the one to nurse her heart back to happiness? With so many deep, dark secrets in his background, will he be up for romance? Or is it Oliver, Glanna’s one perfect relationship, that soured, as she realised they both wanted different things. Him: marriage and a family. Her: love and a happy life, just the two of them. The wonderful cast of colourful characters that accompany Glanna on her own journey of self-discovery, are a delight in themselves, with her father, and his rather brash new girlfriend, and her posh mother, who is always chasing the younger man. Not forgetting Banksy, Glanna’s gorgeous whippet! And we get to hear all about how marriage and motherhood are treating all the favourites from the past two books. This was a wonderful read that I devoured in a day! Many thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Imagine being on the cusp of getting married, literally, then finding yourself jilted, but not quite at the altar, but in a broom cupboard? That is where Freya finds herself, the day before her dream wedding. Their wedding was meant to be the beginning of that special Wedding Season, when all those close friends and family, seem to settle down at the same time. Luckily for Freya, she has a strong band of friends around her, and they help her navigate what could be an extremely tough few months, assembling a plan to help Freya cope with the weddings, hens and stens that are all part of the season. Each event is assigned a task to help her get over Matthew. Tasks she would never have thought about even attempting had she been in her comfortable twelve-year relationship. And possibly a way to find someone to help her get back on that dating horse… A funny, but touching ode to friendship, and finding love in the most unexpected places! Many thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I saw this was out today, and I immediately clicked to buy, and read it in one sitting! Two guests travelling abroad to attend the wedding of mutual friends. Two guests who have just come out of relationships. Somehow, their suitcases, which are identical, are mixed up at the hotel, and what follows is a gigglesome journey to them finding their own cases, and each other. I thoroughly enjoyed the short story, and only wish there was more to follow, to see what happens post wedding!
It is always good to read a story that resonates with you, and even better when you can put a face to a name. Apinder Sahni has written a beautiful biographical tribute to two well-respected Sikh men, the Chhatwal brothers, Inder and Gurcharan, and their journey, not only in a car from England to India, but also their personal journey from India to now. Filled with anecdotes, as well as factual information, Sahni creates that personal touch with the chapters that delve into the brothers’ background and past, as well as that fateful journey with Roy, Sarita and their son, in that Austin. An educational, emotional read.
Do you know what? I really loved this book! Like really enjoyed it! Liv is a middle-aged cleaner, pootling along with life. Her children are leaving the nest, her husband is deep in his own work worries, and Liv is just about coping. with her books by her side to keep her going Until one of her cleaning clients changes her life, completely. Essie Starling is a reclusive best-selling author, and somehow, she opens up to her cleaner, in the strangest of ways, leaving Liv with a mission and a half to complete, upon her death, Sure, maybe it is a bit far-fetched, to imagine the situation she is propelled into, but what a situation to find yourself, eh? Liv ends up on a journey of self-discovery that she never thought she needed to go on, and, in the process, awakes a passion for words that she had left dormant for far too long. So many twists within the story kept me going and I finished it far too quickly for my liking. As I said before, loved it! Many thanks to NetGalley and HQ for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
You’d be forgiven for thinking this might just be a frivolous rom-com about a bunch of girlfriends, off on a sun-soaked holiday, looking at the cover, but that’s where this old adage, “Never judge a book by its cover”, is most suitable. The Girls is about a group of friends, and there is an element of being abroad, but, that’s where the frivolity ends. These are four women, some may describe as, past their prime. Pauline, Val, Jackie and Zara. All in their later years, these four friends used to house share in the seventies, and now, somehow, fate, or rather, Zara, has brought them back together. Pauline is in her own personal hell, alone after a long abusive marriage, with demons that won’t back down, and she’s on the brink of taking her life. Val, alone, but strong. with a secret hidden so deep, that none of her girls knows about it. Jackie, the most frivolous of the bunch, is still searching for her One, and even though she knows her options are lessening, due to her age, can’t help herself. So, when they are all invited to a party to celebrate their old, now famous, friend, Sara’s 80th birthday, they meet with some trepidation, having not seen each other for many years. Here’s where things get more serious. Zara wants them all to recreate their 70s living arrangement, but in her villa in France, knowing that all her friends have nothing holding them to England, and with a somewhat selfish motive of her own, However, her sudden demise plunges them into even more problems. Lots of different issues are raised in this extremely good book. Sure, maybe it is a little far fetched to think that someone would go to so much trouble to have their friends around them, but the ensuing story had me gripped. And, the best thing? They all learn something important about themselves through the journey. Many thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Another Mhairi McFarlane book that I added to the top of my TBR ARC list as soon as it hit! Harriet is a wedding photographer, who doesn’t really believe in marriage, for herself. She has issues from the past that stop her from truly committing, even to her lovely boyfriend, Jon. A surprise proposal from him, in front of his family, pushes her over the edge and she pushes him away. Without giving too much away, all I can say is that this book has dealt with some pretty harrowing issues, including emotional harassment, narcissism, and the role that Social Media can play in totally ruining someone’s life. Harriet is lucky to have a good friend around her, Lorna, who, might I add is a character I would love to have in my corner! She ends up as a lodger in a house, where it turns out the landlord is a shady character she’d not think she would ever come face to face with, but sometimes shady isn’t actually bad, it’s more that you haven’t got to know someone properly. I read this in literally a day, so yes, a good book, a great read! Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins, UK for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.
I was absolutely intrigued by the opening set of short stories to introduce this series, The Wishing Tree, and dived straight into the first of the full-length stories, I Wish… by Amanda Prowse. Linden Falls has a magical quality, and a rather special tree, too. Verity and her daughter Sophie are unaware of this power, when Verity, on a spur of a moment decision, sticks a pin into a globe and finds herself travelling to this small Americal town, with her girl. She needs a break, and to find herself, after being cruelly thrown aside by her famous chef husband, Sonny, for a younger model. They plan a three-month circuit breaker trip to an unknown place and find themselves meeting new people, and forging new friendships, along with feeling a sort of magic that the Wishing Tree and Linden Falls bestows upon its inhabitants and visitors. I felt for Verity. One devotes themselves to the one they love, and the last thing you expect is to be thrown over for another. Through this story, you see her become more confident, and self-aware, and the relationship between mother and daughter is a beautiful thing to behold. Sophie is a caring seventeen-year-old, who, instead of showing herself being torn between her two parents, chooses to help her mother, as well as keep her relationship with her father intact too. And I loved how Verity was given that second chance she so wanted, even though it came in a guise different to what she expected. Quite honestly, I wanted it to carry on, and on, so secretly I am glad that we will be revisiting Verity and her story in further books, later on!
What a beautiful testament to friendship! Neva Cabot is the keeper of the Inn in Linden Falls, and has, by default become Keeper of the Wishes hung on the Wishing Tree in the centre of the town. A calm and centred person, she quietly goes about her business, yet has a sixth sense about what someone may need, at any time. Henry Harmon is struggling with his wife, Greta’s decline due to Alzheimer’s. But he knows she’s a proud woman, and he keeps the struggle of trying to care for her, to himself Neva, Henry and Greta have an age-old bond that was severed, yet, somehow they overcome a huge hurdle in order for Neva to reach out to her long-estranged friends to help them. She takes in Janie and her two daughters, a family that moved into a ramshackle property in the town not long ago, on the pretext of needing a housekeeper. But, there is something else, Janie is hiding. Having constant company, and two wonderful girls to keep her on her feet, fills Neva with so much joy, it is a wonder to behold. Caley and Breeze are unique young ladies in their own right. But, ultimately, like I mentioned at the beginning, this is a story of age-old friendship, and how it can be fractured, but equally, it shines a light on how that same friendship can be mended, and take on a different shape. And I have to say that there are the two starring roles of Myster and his feline ladyfriend, to add to the fun! Another wonderful addition to the series. I can’t wait to read the next one!
A heartwrenching debut novel about friendship. Four friends with lives tied together in invisible knots, living in a block of flats on a run down old council estate, in the seaside town of Brighton. Two in a damaging relationship, one with unrequited love and another with a secret he’s unable to talk to anyone about. The death of one man brings about a tsunami of feelings and change, mainly for the better. Leah is a girl with the weight of the world on her shoulders, helping her mum cope with life, since her dad left them, and coping with the aftermath effects that had on her older brother. Her relationship with Jay is coloured by her own experience of men and how they treat women, Jay is a damaged soul in his own right, but unable to do anything to help himself. Nathan is the product of a successful partnership, but what he wants in life seems just out of reach. Matthew has his own secrets. Living with his grandfather, he has never been able to be open and honest about who he really is. When Ron, his grandfather dies, unexpectedly, feelings rise up and take over, and many other untold stories come to light, A touching, sometimes uncomfortable, read. Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I am loving these interconnected books in The Wishing Tree series by a whole host of fabulous authors! Wish again is Tammy L. Grace’s input into the exploration of the residents of Linden Falls, and this time we are learning about Paige, who returned to her childhood home, after the awful death of her husband, to the comfort of her mother and the bookshop she runs. More unfortunate events tear Paige up, but every cloud has a silver lining, as they say, and Linden Falls also has a Wishing Tree. Even though Paige isn’t a believer, a wish happens upon her and she ends up making it come true for someone else, and with that as a catalyst, she ends up finding many new things to do with her time, as well as rediscovering old passions and a new found love for her illustrator job. A wonderful addition to the series, and Gladys, her dog is just fabulous!
Releasing 16th March, 2022
So, I managed thirteen (Fourteen, if you include one I beta read!) this month! Which one sounds good to you?Tell me about a good book you have read.
If you’re reading this, then that means the first month of the year 2022 has reached its end!
My intentions this year are to make sure I read what I already have, and minimalise the arcs I request, so I can be writing, too…
Well, last January, I dedicated myself to reading the Bridgerton series, so my challenge for myself this year was to read some of the series of books I have on my Kindle… I do love a good serial binge, reading as well as watching on TV.
How have I done, so far?
I read two series that I had, and I think I only have 2 arcs on my list,left!
Without A Hitch is another one of the many books I have had on my TBR for a while, now, and the few days before heading back to work seemed like a perfect time to dip into this lovely little read! Three brides-to-be, whose journeys become interwoven via an online brides-to-be forum, all share their journey from proposal to the alter in this gigglesome book. Each of the ladies, along with their partners, are all very different, with their own ideas of a dream wedding, but there is one thing they all want. A perfect (for them) day. Complete with a perfect dress, venue, catering and that all-important honeymoon. If you have been on the journey to wedded bliss, you will recognise the stresses, suffer the agonies of not being able to get what you want, along with a sense of happiness and relief when that day is finally done! I thoroughly enjoyed this fun, easy to read boo, and am looking forward to diving straight into the second one!
I loved being able to plunge straight into the next story in Bettina Hunt’s series about the three brides, this time, following their adventures on honeymoon. Well, not strictly all on honeymoon. Two managed to make it up the alter, and back down as married women, but one had a change of heart. However, it was still great to continue all three stories, from Sienna and her Social Media influenced frenzy of a trip, to Bryony who was meant to be honeymooning on a shoestring budget, cut even shorter when she discovers her new hubby has a gambling addiction, then rescued with a competition win, and finally to Agnes, who left her ideal Jewish fiance standing at the alter, falling into the arms of her own angel, Gabriel. Weddings… honeymoons… all stressful, but still the brides are tied together by that forum… and now, I just want to find out what happens next, when they enter the next of the site’s rooms… hopefully, there will be babies without a Hitch, too!
I must admit to going on a bit of a Bettina Hunt binge, and though I started at the wrong end of her releases, it didn’t detract me from the enjoyment of her writing. In fact, I can see the way her style has developed from book to book. A Tempting Trio is the story of Sarah, who has managed to find herself, unintentionally in a bit of a dating conundrum. She’s been in a relationship with David, a married man, though she knows it’s wrong, and she should end in, when she meets a rather gorgeous stranger, Adam, in a coffee shop. He leaves his number. Maybe Adam will be the one who helps her kick her married man to the curb, and back to his wife… Then she’s offered a job opportunity by her best friend, Alice, which introduces her to Tommy, an aristocratic romantic, who rather fancies our Sarah. All three men have something about them. But she’s not that greedy… is she? There are some moments when you feel glad you’re not in her shoes. I mean, what are the chances of having all three of your men turning up in Paris, and confronting you while you are trying to enjoy a midnight visit to the Eiffel Tower?! Again another easy to read, fun story, where you don’t quite know where Sarah and her dating future will lead her.
I have loved Sonali Dev’s Bollywood inspired stories, and the Rajes series has been waiting for me to dive in, for a while now. This first book, loosely based around some themes from Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, was a great read! Trisha Raje is a surgeon with a plan. She also is part of an Indian royal family. She has ideas that might not always align with those of HRH, or her father. These issues have caused rifts between them. DJ Caine is a British born man of mixed descent, who has seen a tough life, losing his parents, and other loved ones, as well as being threatened with the loss of his only surviving family member, Emma. He’s also an incredibly talented chef who has been hired by Trisha’s sister, Nisha, to cater for events leading up to the hopeful beginnings of their brother Yash’s political career. Secrets. There are always secrets. And being a part of a royal family, (even though the royal part doesn’t really exist, anymore), has its own share of burdens. Trisha and DJ clash, but they both need each other, in order to help their family members, and there is a certain chemistry between them, that they are trying hard to deny. Family drama, racial and class prejudices, high jinx briberies, and sizzling hot food, as well as chemistry… what more could you want?
Well, ahem, I haven’t read anything racy for quite a while, so I was thankful for the heads up, on this one. However a bit of raunch never deters me from reading a good book, and I had great fun reading this one! Sapphire is trying to keep her family’s jewellery business afloat. Patrick is trying his hardest to gain the approval of his parents, as he works to launch a collection for their successful couture fashion house, in Melbourne. They both need each other, really, but there is history. This relatively short, but snappy read details their interactions as they try to combine business with pleasure, and aim to bring both their companies to success. An enjoyable, easy, but naughty in places, read!
I am a solid Sandy Barker fan and have devoured all her previous books, in a flash, so to know there was a fourth coming in her travel romance series, was just fantastic. I love how each story is individual, but that there are links and characters that tie them all together. so, yes, it could be a stand-alone, but equally, it’s always fun to read books in a series, in order, to keep track of each character’s story. This book centres on Jaelee Tan. She’s a bigwig VP back in the US, and the daughter of a mother who doesn’t show much emotional involvement in her life but expects big things from her only child. After bumping into her ex at her best friend’s party, and feeling her world unravel, Jaelee takes a sabbatical from work, which ends up being the catalyst for her leaving her job. She moves to Bali to UROP, a place filled with ‘digital nomads’, where she hopes to ground herself. Jae finds herself in paradise, with new friends, and ideas for a new future for her career. As I was expecting, there was going to be romance, and it came in the form of Hot Scot, Alistair. An intense romance that gathers speed fast in this idyllic location. But, romances are not meant to be smooth-sailing, are they? There are exes involved, then families and their issues have to crop too… So Jae swaps the beauty of Bali for the gloom of Scotland… All in all, an easy, fun read, with lots of laughs, love and sizzles! Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins, UK for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I think first off, if you are looking for a light-hearted, fluffy read, then this probably isn’t quite the read for you. That doesn’t make it a no go, though. Recipe for Persuasion is another Austen inspired book, the second in the Rajes series bu Sonali Dev, this time focussing on Ashna Raje, daughter of the younger of the Royal Raje brothers, who was uprooted from her life in the palace in India, to the US. Struggling to keep the memory of her father alive, as she works hard to steer his restaurant, Curried Dreams, in the right direction, Ashna is confronted with a face from the past, as she swallows her nerves and ends up signing up to a reality cookery show. Rico, a world-renowned soccer player, ends up as her partner on the show, but his reasons for being there are a little more calculated. Yes, there is second chance romance within this story, obviously, with the above two characters, but the story is so much more. From the complex relationships between estranged mothers and daughters, marital expectations, rape, PTSD, Dev has explored so much within the pages of this novel. I felt invested in the family, having read the first book, and though it wasn’t as easy a read as the first, Recipe for Persuasion was just as good. Bring on book 3!
I’ve become invested in the Rajes siblings and their dramatic lives, and Yash was definitely a character I was intrigued by, via the snippets I learned in the previous two books. A romance at heart, with politics, racism and yoga as the sub interests. Yash has been maintaining a facade for the last ten years, of a relationship with his friend, Naina, while they both chase their dreams, unencumbered by the pressures from family to settle down. A horrific event at one of Yash’s political engagements throws both their worlds into further confusion, as she appears to have real feelings for him, while he is beginning to realise what he really wants, and needs, though it may not be the choice his family would make, on his behalf. India tries her hardest to distance herself from the brother of some of her closest friends. Yash and she have a history, that no one else is aware of, though the tragic event stirs up feelings of concern that she thought she had finally left behind. The story follows how their journey, almost a second chance romance, evolves, and the reactions of the families as truths are unearthed. A great read!
I have enjoyed all of the previous three books and was excited to read this, the final book in the Rajes series. This time Sonali Dev has taken the youngest of the sibling,s Vansh, as the main character, and oh, my, the twists, as his romantic interest is revealed! There is extreme forbidden lust, as he finds himself drawn to his older brother’s (not really) ex, Naina. Both are passionate characters with worthy causes they want to contribute towards, but with difficulties from their upbringings raising their heads constantly, the conflict gets juicy. I was a little sad, as I really wanted to know more about Esha, and knowing this was the last book, I began the book thinking I was going to be missing something, once the series finished, but I was glad she got her own subplot in this final instalment, and that we can leave the Rajes clan with a happy heart! Many thanks to Avon and Harper Voyage for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I’ve been following Jaspreet Kaur on Instagram for a couple of years, and seeing her upcoming release, Brown Girl Like Me, filled me with excitement. I was over the moon to be able to read an advance copy. Being a Brown Girl, and especially a British-born Brown Girl, it has always been hard to find ourselves out there, in anything other than stereotypical roles, via a novel, or on film and in TV series. Brown Girl Like Me is a great attempt at pulling together all the feelings that we may have encountered through our lives, from the lack of strong role models to not being understood in myriad circumstances. It is certainly not a quick and easy read. Something to sit, read, digest and savour. Personally, for me, it made me realise that I am lucky. There were many instances Kaur wrote about situations that I hadn’t experienced, but there were so many of her personal stories that resonated with me. I have always had a lot of support and openness within my family, where we were able to speak out about pretty much anything. But yes, I will always be that Brown Girl, and I am bringing one up, too, who I hope will be a strong Brown Girl in herself, who knows there is a strong Brown Girl right behind her, too. There is also cause to celebrate our culture, customs and backgrounds, and reasons to ensure we stay proud and remember that w might be Brown, but our heritage has more colour in it than many others. Many thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.
Katie Fforde has accompanied me through my young adult years, all the way to the present, and I know that whenever I pick up one of her books, I will be engulfed in the story, immediately. A Wedding in Provence is much the same. Alexandra is en route to Switzerland, in Paris, enjoying her last moments of freedom, before she has to enrol in a finishing school, as expected by her relations. Not very eager to take this route, she jumps at the chance to stay in gay Paree for a little longer when a temporary job offer comes up, but it ends up in Provence, as a nanny, rather than something more glamorous. She finds herself in a chateau, looking after three children, unaided, two of which aren’t keen to have her there, with a grandmerè who doesn’t feel she is qualified, an estranged mother of said children, who wants to whisk the children away, and a friendly dog. What’s more, she appears to have some feelings for the father, who just happens to be a Count. Oh, it could just be straightforward, couldn’t it? The Nanny and the Count fall in love and the children have a ready-made happy family… But where’s the fun in that? We get to meet Alexandra’s friend David, who comes to help her tutor the children, and he also happens to be homosexual, something frowned upon in England during the setting of this story. He’s her best friend, but also like a surrogate father to her. There are many interesting characters in this book, that help to add colour to the story, and the market scenes make me want to go and visit similar places, too! Yes, the romance is there, absolutely, simmering, in the background, but I do wish there had been more of the build-up, as the inevitable conclusion is so sped up! However, we do get to enjoy the development of the relationship between the young nanny and her charges, as they go from wary to not wanting her to ever go. Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Releasing 17th February, 2022
So hot off the press, we don’t even have a cover, yet!
I loved Before I Saw You, and was thrilled to be asked to review the next release from Emily Houghton, Last Time We Met. A kinda second chance romance, but with a whole lot of other circumstances to navigate through. Eleanor and Finley have been best friends since they were dots, then life happened, and Fin disappeared from Eleanor’s life. Fast forward to fifteen or so years later, and Eleanor is feebly trying to get over an awful break-up with her long-standing partner Oliver. No amounts of tea and sympathy from her mother, sister Freya, or even her best friend Sal are helping her get over him. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Fin is reeling from a phone call from England, telling him his mother is at the end of her life. A mother he left behind and hasn’t spoken to for many years. As well as many other people who were precious to him at one point. Oh, and he’s just ended his current relationship, too. It’s inevitable, isn’t it, that the two former best friends end up meeting, and they haphazardly work their way through the difficulties they both faced, both at the end of their former friendship and over time they had no contact. Oh, and did I forget to mention that when they were young and innocent, they signed a contract that if they were both singles at 35 years old, they would have to marry one another? As it is, they are both 34, and not in relationships. That would just segue into such a predictable ending for the story. No. I shall not spoil it for you, and tell you that they live happily ever after, but I will say that I finished the book with a smile on my face, but not before shedding some tears, too. So much covered, from alcoholism to estrangement, and how hiding your feelings can be the worst thing you could ever do. I whizzed through this in a day and loved each moment of the book. Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House UK and Transworld for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Another Sarah Morgan stunner! This time we have a multi-POV story, from the eyes of Joanna, a woman who hears of her ex-husband’s death, Ashley, the girl who was with him at the time, and Mel, Joanna’s childhood friend. Joanna lives a blessed life, apart from one thing. She has no privacy. Having been married to a famous TV chef, who often cheated, she has got used to a life spent with cameras following her every move, and even post-divorce, her life is not her own. Ashley, is young, and pregnant, with something important to tell Cliff, the man driving the car they are travelling in, when a horrific accident happens. Mel and Joanna were best friends for most of their young life, until Joanna upped and left, suddenly, at 16, supposedly breaking Mel’s twin brother, Nate’s, heart, and taking up with Cliff soon after. The accident that took her ex-husband’s life affects Joanna more than she thought, as she ups sticks and leaves her beautiful home, which feels like a prison, and heads off, back to her home town, with young mum-to-be, Ashley in tow. A great story, that shows how not everything is what it seems to be, all of the time. I enjoyed this read. Many thanks to NetGalley and HQ for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
It feels like an age since I read the first book in The Curse of Time series, but it was great to pick up where we left off, with the continuing story of Amelina and her mystical powers. This time, she is a little wiser and is aware of the powers given to her, and wary of certain individuals, such as Ryder, who has his own dark secrets. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing throughout the story. I felt so sorry for poor Esme, trapped in the mirror, and I wanted to shake Jade until she realised the error of her judgement. But, I can feel another story coming as the ending was definitely not a Happily Ever After!
So, I managed fourteen books. What were your first reads of the year?
But I Smile Anyway... 