Book After Book

Publication: 11th October 2019 (eBook); 12th December 2019 (paperback) – One More Chapter

It’s mayhem in Bethlehem…unless they can work together!

Viola Smith plays the viola in an orchestra (yes really!), but this year she’s been asked to stretch her musical talents to organising Notting Hill’s local nativity.
Nate Williams isn’t looking forward to Christmas but as his small daughter, Grace, has the starring role in the show, he’s forced to stop being a Grinch and volunteer with Viola.

With the sparks between them hotter than the chestnuts roasting in Portobello market, Nate and Viola can’t deny their feelings. And as the snow starts to fall over London, they find themselves trapped together in more ways than one…

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I am delighted to welcome you on my stop on the blog tour for Notting Hill in the Snow, the festive and entertaining new novel by Jules Wake. Thank you so much Rachel for inviting me to join the blog tour and One More Chapter for providing me with a copy of the novel.

Last year I read my first Jules Wake’s novel, Covent Garden In The Snow, and I loved it so I was thrilled to see some of the characters make a few appearances in her new fantastic Christmas novel. The protagonist, Viola Smith, plays the Viola for the London Metropolitan Opera Company and following a chance encounter with a handsome man on the tube she finds herself helping organising the nativity at a local school. She was supposed to help just for a few hours a week, but soon Viola finds herself involved not only in the school’s nativity, but with the Williams family, the young adorable Grace and her attractive father Nate.

I ADORED this novel. First of all, I loved the characters. The author made them very realistic and relatable. Viola is altruistic and so authentic. She can’t never say “no” to her family and she is always helping others. I enjoyed her festive mood and her love for Notting Hill and her talks with Grace were my favourite part of the story. Nate is a wonderful prince charming, but my favourite character is Grace. She is smart, wise for her age, and sensible, and, like Viola, I just wanted to hug her and make her happy. 

Another thing I loved about this novel is the setting. Notting Hill is one of my favourite areas in London. I used to go there often and just walk around looking at the streets and the shops. I never had the pleasure to see it covered in snow, but I bet it’s magical.

The plot is romantic and addictive. A young woman falls in love with a single father and his daughter and, of course, it won’t be easy. I enjoyed every moment of the story and the ending was fantastic.

Notting Hill in the Snow is an amazing and refreshing story that will keep you captivated from the first to the last page, a perfect read to enjoy this winter season!

Jules Wake announced at the age of ten that she planned to be a writer. Along the way she was diverted by the glamorous world of PR and worked on many luxury brands and not so luxury brands. This proved fabulous training for writing novels as it provided her with the opportunity to hone her writing and creative skills penning copy on a vast range of subjects from pig farming and watches, sunglasses and skincare through to beer and stationery.

She writes best-selling warm-hearted contemporary fiction for One More Chapter as Jules Wake and under her pen name Julie Caplin, she writes the Romantic Escapes series.

Between them, the two Js have written twelve novels, Notting Hill in the Snow being the latest.

Social Media Links –

Twitter: @Juleswake

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/juleswake.co.uk/

Instagram: juleswakeauthor

Purchase Links

UK  – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Notting-Hill-Snow-heartwarming-uplifting-ebook/dp/B07RNFF9Q1/

US – https://www.amazon.com/Notting-Hill-Snow-heartwarming-uplifting-ebook/dp/B07RNFF9Q1/

Publication: 5th September 2019 – Simon & Schuster UK

A young mother’s sacrifice. A child’s desperate search for the truth . . .

London, 1917

When nineteen-year-old Alice Copeman becomes pregnant, she is forced by her father and stepmother to give up the baby.  She simply cannot be allowed to bring shame upon her family. But all Alice can think about is the small, kitten-like child she gave away, and she mourns the father, a young soldier, so beloved, who will never have the chance to know his daughter.
 
Edith and Philip Burns, a childless couple, yearn for a child of their own. When they secretly adopt a baby girl, Irene, their life together must surely be complete. Irene grows up knowing that she is different from other children, but no one will tell her the full truth.
 
Putting hopes of marriage and children behind her, Alice embarks upon a pioneering medical career, striving to make her way in a male-dominated world. Meanwhile, Irene struggles to define her own life, eventually leaving her Suffolk home to find work in London.
 
As two extraordinary stories intertwine across two decades, will secrets long-buried at last come to light?

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This is such a beautiful read. Set between the two World Wars, it’s the story of two women and the challenges they have to face. Alice Copeman was a nurse in France during World War I when she meets and falls in love with a soldier. Forced by her stepmother to give up for adoption the baby they conceived, Alice throws herself in her studies and in her work. Irene Burns always felt she didn’t belong in her family and she feels different from the other children. As time goes by, Alice works hard to become a successful doctor while Irene moves to London to find herself and her real parents.

I loved the author’s attention to details. Her descriptions are vivid, the historical facts are accurate, and she perfectly captures the society of the time. Both Alice and Irene come from good families. Alice is forced to give up her daughter because her stepmother fears the shame that it would bring to the family. Irene can’t spend time with her only friend Tom because his family is not very respectable. And there is the role of the women and what it is expected from them. Alice’s refusal to change her name after marriage or her role as a doctor helping pregnant women are very inspiring and fit with a time when women where fighting for equal rights.

In The Love Child there are themes of love and friendship, but family is at the centre of the story, especially the relationship between a mother and her daughter. Alice and her stepmother Gwen are completely different character. Gwen is more conservative and disapproves of Alice’s choices, but, even though they are not blood-related and they often argue, we see some kind of close relationship between them. Irene has always felt that her adoptive mother Edith loved her less than her brother Clay (because he is her real son), but their relationship is more complicated than that. And then there is the relationship between Alice and Irene. Who can Irene call her mother, the one who gave birth to her or the one who raised her?

The story is beautiful, moving, and real. I loved the characters, so authentic and engaging. And I loved the author’s writing style. The story and the characters come to life and I could almost imagine it as each scene unfolded. The Love Child is an absolute must-read!

A huge thank you to SJ and Simon and Schuster UK for providing me with a copy of this stunning novel!

Publication: 7th January 2020 – Bloomsbury UK

Find the heir, win the crown.
Win the crown, save the kingdom.

Harper has freed Prince Rhen from the curse that almost destroyed his kingdom. But all is not well; rumours are rife that there is a rival heir with a stronger claim to the throne and that ‘Princess’ Harper of Disi is nothing but a fraud.

Grey has fled the castle carrying a terrible secret. When he is discovered by soldiers and returned to Ironrose by force, Grey’s allegiances begin to shift. And as he grows closer to an enemy princess, he is forced to decide whether he will stand against Rhen for the crown he never wanted.

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I was thrilled when I received an early copy of A Heart So Fierce and Broken because I adored A Curse So Dark and Lonely and I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next. So I am very thankful to Emily and Bloomsbury UK for sending me a beautiful proof.

For those who haven’t read A Curse So Dark and Lonely (and I highly recommend that you do!), it is the story of Prince Rhen, heir to the throne of Emberfall, cursed to repeat his eighteenth year over and over again, and Harper the girl from Washington DC that could (or could not) break his curse. In its sequel, A Heart So Fierce and Broken, the author focuses on who was my favourite character in the first book: Grey.

In A Curse So Dark and Lonely, Grey was Commander of the royal guard and only companion to Rhen during the curse. He was also “Scary Grey”, he was trustworthy and loyal to Rhen and to the crown. Now he is hiding a secret that could destroy him and that it tests his loyalty and makes him question everything he believe in.

And there is Lia Mara. A princess who thinks that words and not swords will bring peace among her people, but the queen doesn’t agree with her and she has to prove herself repeatedly and win over her affection. Lia Mara reminded me of Harper: compassionate, impulsive, fearless, caring, and selfless, she is willing to sacrifice herself and her happiness for others.

Told mainly from Grey and Lia Mara’s points of views, the story is compelling, addictive, and full of surprises with loyalties and friendships being tested. Harper and Rhen make a few appearances. Harper is still the same caring and impulsive girl that she was in the first book, but now she is also a princess. The curse left Rhen scared and scarred and he is ready to do anything to protect his throne. I was happy to see more of Jacob and Noah. They are a fantastic couple and they add some humour to the story. A perfect and worthy sequel to A Curse So Dark and Lonely, A Heart So Fierce and Broken left me completely engrossed (I read it on the tube and missed my stop realizing it only three stops later!) and eager to see how what is going to happen in the third novel. Highly recommended!!!

 

 

 

 

Publication: 3rd October 2019 (eBook); 12th December 2019 (paperback) – One More Chapter

Whatever you do, don’t open the door…
 
By day, Ellie Power has a normal life. She has a stable home, a loving boyfriend, a future.
 
But at night, she suffers from a sleep disorder. She becomes angry, unpredictable, violent. Her mother locks Ellie in her bedroom every night, to keep them both safe.
 
Then one morning, Ellie wakes up, horrified to find the lock on her bedroom door smashed from the inside. She is covered in injuries, unable to remember anything about the night before.
 
And her boyfriend Matt is nowhere to be found…

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What surprised me most about Lock Me In is that it’s a debut. I couldn’t believe that this twisty and dark thriller was the first novel of the author that kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading.

The protagonist of the novel is Ellie, a nineteen-year-old girl with a huge secret. She suffers from a serious dissociative condition in which her alter ego Siggy makes bad things that Ellie can’t never remember. For this reason, her mother locks her in her room every night and she can’t lead a normal life. The only people to know about her condition are her mother Christine, her boyfriend Matt and Ben Mae, a police detective who, one day, is called to investigate Matt’s disappearance. However, this is not Ben and Ellie’s first meeting…

What I loved most about this novel is that nothing is what it seems and I was continuously taken by surprise by the many twists and revelations that the author put in when you less expected it. Also, I loved the unreliability of the protagonist. Are Ellie’s dreams simple nightmares or are they memories of a past she has blocked out? While the plot focuses on the mystery of Ellie, Ben Mae’s personal life also takes stage centre and makes a compelling and thought-provoking storyline.

If Kate Simants managed to create such an elaborate and unique plot for her first novel, I can’t wait to see what she has planned next. A must-read!

A huge thank you to One More Chapter for providing me with a copy of this novel.

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Kate Simants was so nice to answer a few questions about her debut novel Lock Me In and herself…

1. Hi Kate. Tell us about your new novel, Lock Me In.

It’s about a young woman, Ellie, who suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder. Sometimes, at night, she is taken over by a different personality, who she and her mother refer to as Siggy. Siggy is violent and aggressive, and as a result, Ellie’s mother locks Ellie into her bedroom every night to keep them both safe. But one morning Ellie wakes up to find that the lock is broken, and she is covered in mud and injuries that she can’t explain or remember sustaining. And her boyfriend has disappeared.

2. What inspired you to write this novel?

That’s actually a tougher question that it seems – the book has gone through so many incarnations to get to the version that’s going to be in readers’ hands! I think I have an interest in the intense relationship some girls and women have with their mothers, so part of it was definitely formed from that: what if you still relied on your mother for safety into adulthood. But it’s also a lot about identity, and how our true identity can be so heavily shaped by the people around us.

3. Did you do any specific research for the book?

Yes, loads. I have a great fear of appropriation – taking someone else’s experience and misrepresenting it in some way, or disrespecting it. So I read a huge amount about DID and the other subjects in the book (some of which I can’t mention for spoiler reasons!) before I felt qualified to reference them.

4. Was there a particular part of the novel that was really difficult to write for you?

That’s a great question – the answer is yes, there is a chapter towards the end from Ellie’s mother’s point of view that found enormously emotional. I actually wrote this chapter right at the start of the process, and then trained my sights on getting to that scene, if that makes sense. But putting that character through the raw trauma of what happened was really hard to do.

5. Can you describe Lock Me In in 3 adjectives?

Dark, twisty, emotional

6. How long did it take to write the novel and how many drafts did you write?

Honestly, it’s so hard to answer this: I started it about 5 years ago but in that time I’ve also had small children to bring up almost full-time, plus jobs, plus doing an MA, so it’s not like it was five solid years. In terms of drafts: maybe five or six major drafts. I tell myself I’m a planner, but then I go off on a tangent. There were several significant thematic changes between these versions, and the plot and motivations within have changed enormously. I don’t make things easy for myself!

7. What does your average writing day look like?

When it’s going well, I get up at 5.30 or 6 and get going before the kids are up. But beyond that I scrabble around for whatever time I can get hold of, in between work and childcare, just like any working mum. I struggle to concentrate enough to get much done when there’s anything else going on, which contributes to me being a little slow I think!

8. Who are some of your own favorite authors at the moment? 

I’ve been going after a lot of non-fiction recently for some reason but memorable novels I’ve read in the last few month are Clare Empson’s (Him and Mine – she’s a huge talent), Big Sky by Kate Atkinson, and I’ve been gobbling up Belinda Bauer’s back catalogue! I love Tana French too, and Adrian McKinty’s Sean Duffy novels.

9. When did you decide to write and what prompted you to start?

I think I’d always been a bit of a storyteller but I really only started properly about 12 years ago when I was disillusioned with job in TV. I was talking to a dear friend who’d recently retrained in psychology and she said ‘why don’t you just write?’. Somehow, despite being a prolific reader, it hadn’t actually occurred to me before that.

10. Can you tell us a bit about your plans for the future?

My second novel, The Knocks, won the Bath Novel Award last week and is out on submission to publishers at the moment, so hopefully someone will pick that up. The book I’m working on now though is a blend of psychological thriller elements and Elizabethan themes, I’m having a lot of fun getting stuck in to it! Watch this space…

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Kate Simants was born in Devon. After studying English at university, she worked in TV production in London for ten years, specialising in undercover investigations (which was much less glamorous than it sounds), then moved from her little boat on the Thames to a bigger boat on the Avon to start a family and concentrate on writing. She holds two MAs in creative writing from Brunel University and the University of East Anglia, and has been shortlisted for the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger and the Bath Novel Award, and won the UEA Literary Festival Prize. Kate is now a land-lubber and lives between Bristol and Bath with her family and demented cat. She is a committed faddist, and her current interests include roller-skating, macrame, and Persian cookery. To get in touch, tweet her at @katesboat or visit her website at katesimants.co.uk.

 

Publication: 17th October 2019 – Headline Review

What would you do if you received a love letter that wasn’t meant for you?

Bea used to feel confident, outgoing and fun, but she’s not sure where that person went.
Over the last few months, she’s found herself becoming reclusive and withdrawn. And despite living with her two best friends, she’s never felt lonelier. To make things worse, she’s become so dependent on her daily routine, she’s started to slip out of everyone else’s.

But when a mysterious battered envelope covered in stars lands on her doormat, Bea wonders if she could find the courage to open it.

It isn’t addressed to her, but it could be… if you squinted…

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I am delighted to welcome you on my stop on the blog tour for The Accidental Love Letter, the heart-warming and entertaining new novel by Olivia Beirne. I’d like to thank Anne Cater for inviting me to join the blog tour and Headline for providing me with a proof copy of the novel.

Let me start by saying that I loved the protagonist of the novel. Bea Smyth is altruistic, authentic, and so sweet… I just wanted to hug her and tell her that everything is going to be okay. She is a young woman who lives with her three best friend, she works as an assistant for the local newspaper, and she has a neighbour that collects her mail and one day she gives her a love letter mistakenly address it to her. Opening the letter will change her life as she finds herself volunteering at the local nursing home and befriending and taking care of engaging and witty residents.

The story is beautiful and well-written. The author brings the characters to life and you can’t help but like them (although there were also a few I found irritating). As I mentioned, the protagonist is adorable. She is a bit reclusive and introvert, but she doesn’t back down when it comes to helping others. Her character is slowly revealed, giving her a bit of a mysterious air, but the more I read the more I came to understand her and like her and I loved how she grows throughout the story.

Family, love, friendship, loss are all themes the author addresses creating emotional and uplifting moments. This is my first novel by Olivia Beirne, but it certainly won’t be the last, and if you are looking for a feel-good and enjoyable novel that I highly recommend you pick The Accidental Love Letter!

Olivia Beirne is the bestselling author of The List That Changed My Life and lives in Buckinghamshire. She has worked as a waitress, a pottery painter and a casting assistant, but being a writer is definitely her favourite job yet.
You can keep in touch with Olivia through her website oliviabeirne.co.uk, or via Olivia_Beirne on Twitter, olivia.beirne on Instagram and /Olivia-Beirne on Facebook.

Publication: 17th October 2019 – Transworld Books

Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) adores Christmas. It’s always the same – Mum and Dad hosting, carols playing, Mum pretending she made the Christmas pudding, and the next-door neighbours coming round for sherry in their terrible festive jumpers.

And now it’s even easier with online bargain-shopping sites – if you spend enough you even get free delivery. Sorted!

But this year looks set to be different. Unable to resist the draw of craft beer and smashed avocado, Becky’s parents are moving to ultra-trendy Shoreditch and have asked Becky if she’ll host Christmas this year. What could possibly go wrong?

With sister Jess demanding a vegan turkey, husband Luke determined that he just wants aftershave again, and little Minnie insisting on a very specific picnic hamper – surely Becky can manage all this, as well as the surprise appearance of an old boyfriend and his pushy new girlfriend, whose motives are far from clear . . .

Will chaos ensue, or will Becky manage to bring comfort and joy to Christmas?

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Becky Brandon née Bloomwood is baaack!!! Who has missed the world’s best shopaholic? I have been waiting for a new novel featuring my favourite heroine and I was so happy to hear that, for the first time, she would be in a Christmas novel. After all, we’ve seen her finding the perfect job, getting married, having a child, conquering Hollywood, and road-tripping around America, so we need to see her hosting Christmas. Of course, it will be full of difficulties and hilarious because that’s what happens in all her stories.

Becky loves Christmas and she’s been really looking forward to spending it at her parents’ house like every year, instead, at her mother’s request, she is hosting Christmas at her house and she’s invited family and friends and it’s not easy to satisfy everyone’s desires. Becky is not only busy organizing Christmas at her house for the whole family, but she also manages to change the tradition of a 200-year-old all-men club, to get stuck in a skylight, and to invent a new Norwegian word, among other things.

I have been reading the Shopaholic series for almost twenty years now and every time a new novel comes out I get excited before I start reading it, I am not disappointed and I laugh out loud while I am reading it, I eagerly hope for a new one as soon as I finish reading it. I love Becky. She is the same altruistic, friendly, and unique person she’s always been. Trying everyone to get along, worried about her sister, helping a fellow mother who is practically a stranger, Becky’s life is far from boring. Her addiction to shopping is still high, especially now that she does shopping online and it is delivered directly at her door and the Denny and George scarves are back. Becky’s daughter Minnie is adorable, I love her husband Luke, Suze is the best friend in the world, and Becky’s parents and their neighbours Janice and Martin are as hilarious as ever.

Christmas Shopaholic is another addictive and fantastic Becky story with a festive atmosphere, an engaging and captivating plot, and a beautiful and moving ending that made me shed a couple of tears. My favourite series from my favourite author, I hope that we won’t wait for four years for another Shopaholic novel…

A huge huge thank you to Becky Short and Transworld for providing me with a copy of this novel and happy publication day to Sophie Kinsella, Christmas Shopaholic is out today!

Publication: 22nd August 2019 – Headline

Bella Edwards is a hot mess.

Days away from turning thirty, single, struggling to reconcile where she is with where she imagined she’d be by this point in her life, Bella has come to believe her entire future happiness is based on meeting ‘The One’.

After an unfortunate encounter with a fortune teller, where it seems Bella’s single fate is sealed, she hops on a plane from London to New York to seek the wisdom of her best friend who, in turn, presents Bella with a challenge: thirty dates in thirty days before Bella turns thirty.

Challenge accepted, Bella embarks on a crazy road trip across America to San Francisco, with one clear objective: to find ‘The One’ and prove the fortune teller wrong. What ensues is a raucous adventure of dating, love, and – most importantly – self-discovery.

Fresh, funny and witty, Thirty shines an honest, often awkward, often hilarious, but ultimately wonderfully fresh light on what it truly means to be single, when everyone else seemingly has it all.

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Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Thirty, the entertaining and refreshing new novel by Christina Bradley. A huge thank you to Alara and Headline for providing me with a copy of this fantastic novel.

When you are young you think that by the time you will be thirty your life will be as you planned. You will have a family, a house, and a good job, but often that’s not the case as Bella Edwards knows. A month before her thirtieth birthday, Bella is tired of seeing all her friends getting married and having children while she is still looking for The One. So, after she has a breakdown and quits her job, Bella goes to visit her friend Esther to New York and sets herself a challenge. She has thirty days and thirty dates to find herself The One. Thirty hilarious, awkward, and weird dates that made laugh out loud, from an offer of a foursome to an old boyfriend, from a Canadian who only speak French to the guy who never shows up, Bella embarks on a journey of discovery not only of a boyfriend, but of herself.

Turning thirty is a milestone… It means being responsible and adult, most people have families and a job that takes up most of their lives. I could relate to Bella. We think that by the time we turn 30 years old we have it all figure it out and we see our friends getting married, having children, and asking for a mortgage to buy a house, while we are still floating. Bella thinks she needs to find herself a man, The One, to complete her life and while she goes on a road trip around America in his search, she goes also on a journey of self-discovery: does she really need a man to be happy?

Funny, romantic, and engaging, Thirty is a timely and compelling story with an hilarious, witty, and authentic heroine that will make you laugh out loud page after page. Recommended!!!

 

 

Publication: 31st October 2019 – Simon & Schuster UK

In the aftermath of war, everyone is searching for answers . . .
An epic novel of forbidden love, loss, and the shattered hearts left behind in the wake of World War I.

1921. Families are desperately trying to piece together the fragments of their broken lives. While many survivors of the Great War have been reunited with their loved ones, Edie’s husband Francis has not come home. He is considered ‘missing in action’, but when Edie receives a mysterious photograph taken by Francis in the post, hope flares. And so she begins to search.

Harry, Francis’s brother, fought alongside him. He too longs for Francis to be alive, so they can forgive each other for the last things they ever said. Both brothers shared a love of photography and it is that which brings Harry back to the Western Front. Hired by grieving families to photograph gravesites, as he travels through battle-scarred France gathering news for British wives and mothers, Harry also searches for evidence of his brother.

And as Harry and Edie’s paths converge, they get closer to a startling truth.

An incredibly moving account of an often-forgotten moment in history, The Photographer of the Lost tells the story of the thousands of soldiers who were lost amid the chaos and ruins, and the even greater number of men and women desperate to find them again.

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Before you start reading The Photographer of the Lost get ready your tissues, because you’ll need them. I fell in love with this unforgettable, heartbreaking, and evocative story.

It’s 1921, three years after the end of World War I, and yet for many people it’s like the war never ended. There are many many soldiers suffering from PTSD, there are many families grieving their loved ones, and there are many, too many, soldiers still missing in action whose fate is still unknown and, of course, there are people still looking for them. Harry and Edie are among these people. They are looking for Francis, Harry’s brother and Edie’s husband, who’s been missing for four years. Their journey through France between destroyed towns and the discarded items of soldiers is not just in search of the truth, but also a chance for forgiveness and new beginnings.

The Photographer of the Lost left me heartbroken and highly emotional. History books don’t tell the stories of the soldiers and their families, don’t tell the guilt of the soldiers who came home while others died on the battlefield (“Why should I have survived? Why, when others didn’t, did I have the right to come home?“), the loss and the suffering of the families. Caroline Scott created a haunting and powerful story that evocatively portrays this side of history I didn’t know much about.

As Harry and Edie try to find out more about Francis’s fate, they meet other people who are looking for their loved ones, they meet English soldiers who, after the war, couldn’t face going home or didn’t want to leave behind those who died there. Harry is not only looking for his brother, he is also taking pictures of graveyards. This part of the story hit me and left in tears. Parents, wives, brothers, and sisters who didn’t have the chance to go over to France and visit the place where their loved ones are buried, paid Harry to take a picture of their last resting place.

As I said, grab the tissues and settle down for an beautiful, moving, and captivating story that you won’t be able to put down.

A huge thank you to SJ Virtue and Simon & Schuster for providing me with a proof copy of this brilliant novel.

 

Publication: 3rd October 2019 – Aria

This Christmas fall in love with the town of Chesterwood…

Christmas is meant to be a time of giving, so with Chesterwood food bank under risk of closure Fern knows just what to do to save it. She’s going to get the town to create a living advent calendar.

Fern, and her best friends, call for help from the local community to bring this calendar to life. When Kit, the new man in town, offers his assistance Fern’s heart can’t help but skip a beat (or two).

As they grow ever closer, Fern must admit that Kit’s breaking down the barriers she built after the death of her husband. But his past is holding him back and Fern doesn’t know how to reach him. No matter how hard she tries.

In this town, Kit’s not the only one with secrets. Domestic goddess Cara is behaving oddly, burning meals in the oven and clothes whilst ironing, and Davina’s perfect children are causing trouble at school leaving her son, Jasper, desperately unhappy.

Can the Christmas Calendar Girls find a way to bring the community together in time to save the food bank, while still supporting their families and each other? Can Fern find love again with Kit?

This is a story about kindness and letting go of the past. It’s about looking out for your neighbours and about making every day feel like Christmas.

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Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for The Christmas Calendar Girls, the new festive novel by Samantha Tonge. A huge thank you to Victoria Joss and Aria for inviting me to join the blog tour and providing me with a copy of the novel.

The protagonist of the novel is Fern. A freelance journalist with a young daughter, she moved to Chesterwood three years earlier after the premature death of her husband. Although part of her is still grieving, she thinks it is time to move on, especially as her friendship with Kit seems to become something more. However, Fern has other things to worry about besides her love life. The local food bank is about to be closed because the rent is too high. To try and save the place that is so important for many people around the area, Fern organize a living calendar event around town to raise money. Also, she is worried about her two best friends. Perfect wife and mother Cara who has always everything under control has become very forgetful and distracted while Davina is worried about her children’s strange behaviour. Will Fern be able to make it to Christmas without much drama? (Don’t count on it!)

October is the month of Christmas reads and I lost count of how many Christmas books I have read so far, but I enjoyed each one of them including The Christmas Calendar Girls. The author created a protagonist that feels authentic and relatable from the very beginning. You can feel her pain as she remembers her husband, but you also cheer her on as she tries to build a new life without him. She is compassionate and caring, working hard to help the homeless of the village. She is always ready to help others and, in the meantime, she has a job to do and a daughter to raise.

I loved the community feeling and the Christmas atmosphere that together make a fantastic Christmas novel. An enjoyable and uplifting novel about friendship, family, love, loss, and new beginnings, The Christmas Calendar Girls is one not to miss this Christmas season!

Follow the rest of the blog tour:

Samantha Tonge lives in Manchester UK with her husband and children. She studied German and French at university and has worked abroad, including a stint at Disneyland Paris. She has travelled widely.
When not writing she passes her days cycling, baking and drinking coffee. Samantha has sold many dozens of short stories to women’s magazines.
She is represented by the Darley Anderson literary agency. In 2013, she landed a publishing deal for romantic comedy fiction with HQDigital at HarperCollins and in 2014, her bestselling debut, Doubting Abbey, was shortlisted for the Festival of Romantic Fiction best Ebook award. In 2015 her summer novel, Game of Scones, hit #5 in the UK Kindle chart and won the Love Stories Awards Best Romantic Ebook category. In 2018 Forgive Me Not, heralded a new direction into darker women’s fiction with publisher Canelo. In 2019 she was shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists’ Association romantic comedy award

 

Follow Samantha

Website: http://samanthatonge.co.uk/

Twitter: @SamTongeWriter

Facebook: @SamanthaTongeAuthor

Buy links:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Z2u7NO

Kobo: https://bit.ly/2YgggEa

iBooks: https://apple.co/2yXpzJU

Google Play: https://bit.ly/2Z8YiTO

Follow Aria

Website: www.ariafiction.com

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Publication: 8th October 2019 – Hot Key Books

Magic rules the city of Creije Capital and Tavia Syn knows just how many tricks she needs up her sleeve to survive. Selling dark magic on the streets for her kingpin, she keeps clear of other crooks, counting the days until her debt is paid and she can flee her criminal life.

But then, one day, with her freedom in sight, Tavia uncovers a sinister plot that threatens to destroy the realm she calls home. Desperate to put an end to her kingpin’s plan, Tavia forms an unlikely alliance with three crooks even more deadly than her:

Wesley, the kingpin’s prodigy and most renewed criminal in the realm

Karam, an underground fighter with a penchant for killing first and forgetting to ask questions

And Saxony, a Crafter in hiding who will stop at nothing to avenge her family

With the reluctant saviours assembled, they embark on a quest to put an end to the dark magic before it’s too late. But even if they can take down the kingpin and save the realm, the one thing they can’t do is trust each other.

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What an addictive read!!! I spent a weekend reading and enjoying Into The Crooked Place and I can’t wait to read the sequel. The plot is captivating and magical, the characters are fantastic, and it ended with a fantastic and shocking cliff-hanger that left me desperate for more.

The protagonists are four crooks: Wesley is the underboss in Creije, the kingpin’s golden boy, but with his own plans for the future; Tavia sells magic hoping to gain her freedom; Karam is a fierce guard with a secret to hide; and Saxony is a fighter looking for revenge. They form an unlikely team and go on a dangerous and revealing journey to get rid of the cruel kingpin and save the kingdom.

First of all, I loved the characters. Wesley, Tavia, Karam, and Saxony are engaging and very well-crafted. They argue, they support and protect each other, they are loyal. Even when they argue, I side with each of them. They all have a dramatic and horrific past that it is slowly unravalled and make for a serious and thought-provoking read while the easy banters and the witty exchanges between the characters made me smile. The story is told from different points of views so that the reader gets to know the characters’ dynamics as the story develops and really appreciate them. My favourite character is Tavia. She is stubborn and determined and I admired her loyalty to Wesley.

There is magic, there is adventure, there is romance, and there is friendship. The writing style is clear and captivating, the plot is intriguing and full of surprises, and, as I said, the characters are awesome. This is my first novel by Alexandra Christo so now I am going to read her debut novel To Kill A Kingdom, while I wait for the sequel to Into The Crooked Place which I highly recommend to all fantasy lovers!

A huge thank you to Hot Key Books and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this fantastic novel.