Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Meet me at Beachcomber Bay by Jill Mansell

4 Star

1. A brief encounter that could have become so much more...if only everything were different
2. Step-sisters, bitter rivals in every area except one--by unbreakable pact neither will ever steal a man from the other
3. A love triangle that starts out as a mess of secrets and mix-ups, and only gets worse from there

Plus!
Friendship, family ties, crossed wires and self-discovery, second chances and first impressions

Welcome to Jill Mansell's blustery seaside world. Once you step inside, you'll never want to leave!




Kathryn - 4 Star

If you are a Jill Mansell fan, and I am,  this new novel won't disappoint.  I've read every one of her books and they are all unique in their plot lines (though all romantic in nature) and her characters exude a warmth that is hard to match. It takes only a few pages to feel like you've known them for years and want to invite them around for tea. 

Meet me at Beachcomber Bay has Clemency pursuing her life but still thinking about the stranger she connected with on the plane a few years before. Then suddenly he turns up as her stepsister's new boyfriend (which of course isn't very good at all). The shock has her reeling and the situation isn't ideal. But Clemency is resilient and she puts him out of her mind so as not to break a long time promise to her sister.  Meanwhile, her lovely friend and co-worker Ronan is really longing for Kate to see him as a potential love interest, but that isn't going anywhere quickly. It’s a romantic, tangled mess.

It takes some time but slowly the right couples end up together and it's all lovely and simple in the end. 

The joy about Jill Mandell's novels is truly the genuine familiarity of the characters and it doesn't hurt that her writing is funny, fast paced and current. 

Thank you to Sourcebooks for our review copy.  All opinions are our own.


Connect with Jill Mansell:
Website    Facebook     Twitter     Goodreads


Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Would you rather...with Rebekah Louise

Please welcome Rebekah Louise, author of Love, Life & Dreams.


 


Rebekah Louise:





Rebekah Louise is 32 and lives in Worcestershire with her husband and young son. When she is not busy chasing her son around or writing, she enjoys reading, Pilates and spending time with family and friends preferably in cafes sampling the coffees and cakes.
Love, Life & Dreams is her first collection of five short stories that she has published. 







Connect with Rebekah:
Would You Rather... 
with Rebekah Louise

Chips, chocolate or cheese?

Chocolate. 

Bridget Jones, Becky Bloomwood or Carrie Bradshaw?

Carrie Bradshaw, love Sex in the City. 

Wine, beer or vodka?


Wine, preferably a glass of white or two. 

Camping or spa vacation?

Spa vacation. My husband proposed to me on a spa weekend away. It was heaven! 

Dogs or cats?

Dogs, we have a beautiful Rottweiler crossed with a Rhodesian Ridgeback. 

Coke or Pepsi?

To be honest I can't tell the difference. As long as it's chilled I'll happily drink it. 

Coffee or tea?


Tea, preferably with a chocolate digestive. 

Dine out or take away?

I love both but I think it would have to be dine out. 

High heels, sneakers or flip flops?

Flip flops, sadly I can't walk in high heels. 

Physical Book or ebook?


Physical book.

Pen or pencil?

Pen. 

Drama or comedy?

Depends on my mood, I probably watch more dramas. 

Lipstick, lipgloss or chapstick?

Chapstick but I love a bit of lipgloss for a rare night out. 

Facebook or Twiter?

Facebook. 

Plot your entire novel or fly by the seat of your pants?

Ideally I would like to plot my stories, however I get halfway through plotting and get impatient and start writing to see where my imagination takes me. 


Life, Love & Dreams



In Doctor’s Orders, meet sisters Emma and Alice. Alice comes to her sister’s rescue after her marriage breaks down. Little does Emma know what the future holds for her. 

In Julie, meet Tom, a successful businessman and a loving father, that is until Julie shows up at his office. 

In Live the Dream, meet Louis and Emma. Share in their moving story about the wonders of love and imagination. 

In Off the Record, meet James. He is a top radio DJ who makes a mistake that leads him to consider his behaviour. 

In Suite 200, meet Ania, a cleaner of a five-star hotel. Life for Ania is arduous and her future looks bleak, that’s until she meets a guest that will challenge her view.

Available at:

Thursday, July 13, 2017

The Publicist by Christina George

3.5 Star

Welcome to the world of publishing. The ego has landed.

Can one woman change an age-old institution like publishing? Probably not, but Kate Mitchell sure wants to try. As a publicist with a large, respected New York publishing house, Kate finds herself at the mercy of a broken publishing system, books that don’t sell, and author egos that are often, well, as big as the island of Manhattan.

Enter the star Editor, MacDermott Ellis: Tall, handsome, charismatic, married, and ready to save the day. Then there’s Allan Lavigne, once a revered author--now as forgotten as last year's bestsellers and his nephew Nick: Tall, gorgeous, sweet, single and ready to sweep Kate off her feet. Kate wants to do the right thing but her hormones seem to be driving her decisions. 

As Kate tries to navigate the landmine of publicity, over-the-top author expectations, and the careful dance of “I’m sorry, your book isn’t on the bestseller list this week,” she also finds authors who are painfully overlooked by a publisher wanting more sex, more celebrities, and more scandal.

The story only an insider could tell.




Kathryn - 3.5 Star

An interesting novel because it certainly gives some insight into the various roles a book publisher takes on-  I wasn’t completely oblivious to the field but I was still somewhat surprised by the perspective of an insider.   I’m sure there is often a human element that makes this business incredibly difficult and this first novel in the series shows that the relationship between publisher and author is very complicated.

It’s an interesting read because it’s gritty in terms of the publishing world but there’s a romantic storyline that also lightens up the narrative and I’m not sure I was entirely on board with how the two mingled on the pages until the end.  I was fascinated by Kate’s different authors and engrossed in trying to keep them straight and remember who was who so when I was given information about her personal life I was thrown off somewhat.  As if she shouldn’t be allowed a personal life!

I actually like MacDermott Ellis from the start despite (or perhaps due to) the bad brush he’s painted with.  I felt for him immensely and tried to see his perspective and how it had come to be.  I hope I’m not the only one (besides Kate) to find empathy for him and I’m certainly curious to see how things pan out in the next book.

The Publicist is a strong first novel and The Publicist #2 is on my to-read list!


Thank you to the author for our review copy.  All opinions are our own.

Connect with Christina George:
Website     Facebook      Twitter      Goodreads





Sunday, July 9, 2017

Mr. Right-Swipe by Ricki Schultz

5 Star

Rae Wallace would rather drown in a vat of pinot greezh and be eaten by her own beagle than make another trip down the aisle--even if it is her best friend's wedding. She's too busy molding the minds of first graders and polishing that ol' novel in the drawer to waste time on any man, unless it's Jason Segel.
But when her be-fris stage an intervention, Rae is forced to give in. After all, they've hatched a plan to help her find love the 21st century way: online. She's skeptical of this electronic chlamydia catcher, but she's out to prove she hasn't been too picky with men.
However, when a familiar fella's profile pops up--the dangerously hot substitute teacher from work (Nick)--Rae swipes herself right into a new problem... 






Sabrina-Kate - 5 Star

I loved this book! It was just the exact thing I was craving to read and I happened to receive it at the beginning of a rainy weekend, so the timing was perfect. It was such a fun read, that I actually got through it in one day!

This story is one that I can (kind of) relate to. The story of Rae, who is single, trying to live her life. The pressure that is put on her to find love is something that single women face and deal with. Well-meaning friends and family trying to orchestrate meetings and the results.

And yes, I have also done the online dating thing. My time was a bit before the app craze but the results were often similar and equally as disheartening. I think we may even have dated the same guy once or twice. Which is kind of crazy to me, since this is fiction but apparently there is a type.

I laughed and smiled to myself quite often and my family thought I was a bit crazy. But this book is just so bang on hilarious at times that I could not help myself.

I rarely, if ever, say that I hope a book gets made into a movie, but I truly do hope so because this would be a great and fun watch. Pick up this book for your beach reading or anywhere reading actually. But I warn you, you probably won't be able to put it down! 


Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for our review copy.  All opinions are our own.

Connect with Ricki Schultz:
Website      Facebook      Twitter      Goodreads

Tuesday, July 4, 2017

They Left Us Everything by Plum Johnson

4 Star

Author Plum Johnson and her three younger brothers experience conflicted feelings of grief and relief when their mother, the surviving parent, dies. 
Now they must empty and sell the beloved family home, which hasn't been de-cluttered in more than half a century. Twenty-three rooms bulge with history, antiques, and oxygen tanks. Plum remembers her loving but difficult parents who could not have been more different: the British father, a handsome, disciplined patriarch who nonetheless could not control his opinionated,extroverted Southern-belle wife who loved tennis and gin gimlets. The task consumes her, becoming more rewarding than she ever imagined. 
Items from childhood trigger memories of her eccentric family growing up in a small town on the shores of Lake Ontario in the 1950's and 60's. But unearthing new facts about her parents helps her reconcile those relationships with a more accepting perspective about who they were and what they valued.




Kathryn - 4 Star

I was handed this book by my mother, she told me I would laugh, so I put it on my shelf for a few months until curiosity took over.    I found this memoir completely enthralling.  

It’s strange to find someone else’s family, history and house full of stuff so engaging.  You wouldn’t think it would be of much interest but the family dynamic and history was diverse enough that I wanted to know more.  More importantly though there’s a cathartic nature to the systematic clearing of her parents’ home that almost everyone can relate to if they have experienced loss.  Though they were expecting their mother to pass (as she was of quite an impressive age) the magnitude of the memories evoked by the sorting of a life time’s worth of things seemed to surprise each of the siblings.   While many would see this as a burden, something to get done, I was gifted with the concept of the joy or accomplishment that can be gained by taking things slowly.   

Sometimes I wished to know more about the author’s own family and then I would remember that this was a memoir and not fiction- that perhaps the family wasn’t too keen on having their daily lived paraded through a novel- but that just shows how naturally this book was written.

 It took her months, granted it was a very big house, and at some points I’m sure she was incredibly frustrated but the author also made me laugh and cry and I am so pleased I took my mother’s advice and read it.  Perhaps it was a message of some kind- to slow down sometimes.


Thank you to my mother for this review copy.  All opinions are our own.

Connect with Plum Johnson:
Website      Goodreads


Share!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...