Book After Book

Publication: 1st July 2019 (eBook, hardback); 31st October 2019 – Quercus

Meet Kitt Hartley: librarian, trilby-wearer, Lady Grey tea-drinker, taker of no nonsense… detective?

It’s a perfectly normal day for Kitt Hartley at her job at the University of the Vale of York library, until Detective Inspector Halloran arrives at her desk to tell her that her best friend, Evie Bowes, is under suspicion of murder. Evie’s ex-boyfriend Owen has been found dead – with a fountain pen stabbed through his heart – and all the evidence points to her.

Kitt knows there is no way Evie could murder anyone – let alone Owen, who she adored. Horrified that the police could have got it so wrong, Kitt decides there’s only one thing to do: she’s going to investigate Owen’s murder herself. She’s read hundreds of mystery novels – how hard can it be?

With the help of her assistant Grace, and the occasional hindrance of the library’s eccentric regulars, Kitt summons up all her investigative powers (absorbed over years of reading everything from Agatha Christie to Ian Rankin) and gets to work.

She soon discovers that down the quaint streets and snickelways of York lie darker doings than she’d ever dreamed, but she needs to watch her step: the murderer is watching her. And they haven’t finished killing yet…

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I’d like to thank Ella Patel and Quercus book for providing me with a copy of the novel and introducing me to this engrossing series. I devoured Murder by the Minster, the first novel featuring Kitt Hartley, a librarian who finds herself investigating a murder.

After a weekend spent drinking with her best friend Evie, Kitt is still recovering on Monday morning when two detectives arrive at her place of work, the library of the University of York. They are investigating the murder of Evie’s ex boyfriend and they suspect that Evie is somehow involved. Eager to prove her best friend’s innocence, Kitt starts investigating on her own, uncovering a truth twistier and more dangerous than she thought.

I loved the protagonist, Kitt Hartley, librarian during the day, detective during the night (and sometimes even during working hours). She is smart and down-to-earth and like Sherlock Holmes, she has her own Watson to help her, or Watsons, plural. Her assistant Grace, a genius in finding out other people’s information online, Evie, suspected of murder, but also ready to prove someone else’s innocence even if it means she may end up in jail, and Ruby, an eighty-something woman who believes to have psychic powers and gets her information on the bus 59. There is no stopping these women as they search for the truth and they create some entertaining and funny moments that made me laugh.

The story is twisty and addictive. I didn’t figure out who the killer was until it was revealed and it was suspenseful until the end. Being a librarian and a bookworm, Kitt makes many literary references which I enjoyed and I also wrote down a few books that I haven’t read and that now I am curious to read.

Crime fans will highly enjoy this engaging cozy mystery and I am already looking forward to reading the second book, A Body in the Bookshop (love this title!!!).

 

Publication: 19th October 2019 (eBook); 12th December 2019 (paperback) – One More Chapter

A December to remember…

Christmas in a Cornish castle? Sign Ivy Starforth up! Hired to kit out the holiday rental as the world’s most Instagramable festive dreamland, there’s only one thing standing in the way of her hefty paycheque – the lord of the manor.

Bill Markham could give Scrooge a run for his money but Ivy is firmly #TeamChristmas…even if her handsome host seems to be doing everything he can to sabotage her staging. Maybe she shouldn’t have stumbled in on him starkers in the hot tub?

As the temperature outside cools, things inside the castle heat up. It’s been a long time since Ivy allowed herself to give in to temptation…surely one little kiss under the mistletoe won’t hurt?

Purchase Links

UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cosy-Christmas-Cornwall-heartwarming-Cornish-ebook/dp/B07TVZ8VYV

US – https://www.amazon.com/Cosy-Christmas-Cornwall-heartwarming-Cornish-ebook/dp/B07TVZ8VYV

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I am delighted to welcome you on my stop for the blog tour of A Cosy Christmas in Cornwall, the fantastic new novel by Jane Linfoot. A huge thank you to Rachel for inviting me to join the blog tour and to One More Chapter for providing me with a copy of the novel.

A Christmas atmosphere, a castle in Cornwall, and fun and engaging characters. What more would you want? A Cosy Christmas in Cornwall is my first novel by Jane Linfoot and I really enjoyed it. The plot is fantastic, the engaging storyline that you would find in an entertaining romcom to enjoy during the Christmas period. The protagonist, Ivy Starforth, has been hired by her best friend’s sister to create a Christmas atmosphere worthy to be shared to her millions of followers on Instagram. However, when she arrives to the Cornish castle they rented, she finds out that she has more work to do than expected. And Bill, the owner of the castle, seems keen to make it even more harder… Ivy not only has to come to terms with a past that keeps haunting her, but also with her feelings for Bill who is not a total stranger.

Jane Linfoot described a Christmas that is enjoyable and perfect not only for Instagram. The festive atmosphere really got me in the Christmas spirit and the setting is simply beautiful. I liked the characters, they feel authentic and entertaining and they made me often laugh.

In A Cosy Christmas in Cornwall, Jane Linfoot puts together family, romance, and friendship surrounded by a festive atmosphere that will make you wish it was already Christmas.

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Giveaway to Win a signed Jane Linfoot Book and some chocolate (Open INT)

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/33c69494290/?

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

Jane Linfoot is a best selling author, who lives in a cottage on a Derbyshire hillside with her family and their pets. Although she loves seeing cow noses over the garden wall, she’s happy she can walk to a supermarket.

Jane grew up in North Yorkshire where she spent a lot of her childhood avoiding horizontal gales blowing off the sea and wrote her first book by accident. While she loves to write feel good books that let readers escape, she’s always surprised to hear her stories make people laugh, admits to (occasionally) crying as she writes, and credits her characters for creating their own story lines.

Jane’s garden would be less brambly if she wasn’t on Facebook and Twitter so often. On days when she wants to be really scared, she rides a tandem.

Her recent stand alone novels are all set in and around the (imaginary) seaside village of St Aidan in Cornwall. They are: Ivy’s Cornish Christmas, Edie’s Browne’s Cottage by the Sea, The Little Cornish Kitchen. Her four book Little Wedding Shop series are standalone stories, also set in St Aidan. They are: The Little Wedding Shop by the Sea, Christmas at the Little Wedding Shop, Summer at the Little Wedding Shop and Christmas Promises at the Little Wedding Shop. They are all published by the Harper Impulse and One More Chapter imprints of Harper Collins.

Follow Jane on Twitter @janelinfoot, or find her on her Author Page Facebook or her Personal Page Facebook. She’s also on Instagram, and has lots of Pinterest boards relating to her novels.

 

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.