Welcome to New York #bookreview

Author: Luana Ferrez

Publisher: Independently published

Published: January 17, 2018

Genres: Romance

Date read: September 10, 2019

Number of times read: 1

Format: E-book

Source: Book Sirens

Summary

Harry has a secret.
He led a well-planned life and knew exactly what he wanted. Until...
Something chased him away from his hometown in England. He arrives in New York wishing to erase his past, eager for a fresh start. A new life. Everybody here was someone else before.

Alana has a secret.
She left her small town in the Midwest chasing a dream. She arrives in New York determined to see her name flashing in bright lights on Broadway billboards. Everybody here wanted something more.
She was on the right path, but then...

When Harry and Alana meet, they recognize each other’s scars. They bond over the things they don’t say. They find comfort in long silences. But as they learn how to deal with life’s plot twists, they find out the Big Apple has its own plans for them.
For how long can they hide? How long can they keep everyone else at a distance? How long until their past catches up with their present?
Their lives are about to get irreversibly intertwined. Do you want to know how?

First of all, welcome to New York!-- via Goodreads

Review

What a wonderful adventure through New York, Oklahoma, London and Oxford.  Both Harry and Alana are wonderful characters, both troubled by their pasts yet find themselves drawn to each other, revealing more and more about themselves as they get closer and closer.  Just when you think the mystery has been solved, something else is revealed to keep you reading.

Yet this story never seems to be drawn out or over padded.  The pace was just right, the surprises just with the right amount of credibility, never far fetched and always neatly rounded out with the right level of realism.

New York is somewhere I have longed to visit and this book encourages me to go all the more.  The bright lights of Broadway, the hustle and bustle of the streets and the beautiful scenery of the parks and commons.

Thank you to Luana Ferraz for Welcoming me to New York, I look forward to exploring more of this authors work in the future

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A very warm welcome to the Big Apple and a real temptation to stay

Overall Rating

5 out of 5

The Cornish Cream Tea Bus #bookreview

Author: Cressida McLaughlin

Publisher: Harper Collins UK

Published: August 8, 2019

Genres: Women’s fiction, romantic comedy

Date read: September 5, 2019

Number of times read: 1

Format: E-book

Source: Netgalley

Summary

Next stop, Cornwall! Hop on The Cornish Cream Tea Bus for a delicious, romantic adventure…

Baking fanatic, Charlie Quilter, is surprised when her late uncle bequeaths his vintage bus to her in his will. Keen to give the bus a new lease of life, Charlie thinks it will be the perfect mobile café for afternoon tea, and when her friend, Juliette, suggests Charlie comes to stay with her in the picturesque Cornish village of Porthgolow, she’s thrilled at the chance of a new start.

Charlie and her cute dog, Marmite, make new friends wherever their bus stops – except for the sexy but reclusive owner of the posh spa up on the hill, Daniel Harper, who isn’t very pleased that her bus is parked outside his lovely hotel.

Has Charlie’s Cornish dream developed a soggy bottom? Or can she convince Daniel that her bus could be the start of something wonderful for the little village – and for them?-- via Goodreads

Review

As a huge baking fan, I was drawn to this story straight away.  I'm also a big fan of Cressida McLaughlin after reading her Canal Boat Cafe series.  This had a similar premise, a cafe or eatery set on an unusual setting.  In this case, it's an old Routemaster bus left to our heroine Charlie by her late uncle.  After a bit of a disastrous start to her cream tea bus, she relocates to Cornwall for a fresh start.

Not all the locals are pleased with the idea, they don't like the idea of someone new coming in and taking over and Daniel, the owner of the Crystal Waters Spa seems intent on rubbing her up the wrong way.  But with the help of her friends and some of the more affable locals, Charlie takes her bus 'Gertie' on the road.

The setting is beautifully described, Cornwall is a place I really want to visit one day and this book only helped fuel that desire. The village of Porthgolow is a sleepy town, almost a ghost town but still such beautiful scenery. With Charlie's help, the village comes alive and brings more tourists in and helps the villagers and their businesses, despite some initial objections.

But it also has secrets.  Who is maintaining the Instagram account, anonymous beautiful images of the town and no-one will admit to sharing them?  What is Oliver, the bartender of the Marauding Mojito, hiding?  Is there really a mermaid living in the little yellow house? Who is trying to sabotage Charlie and shut her bus down? All signs point to Daniel, but is it really him? And how can she be attracted to him if it is?

With equal parts of romance, intrigue and baking, this cake is meant for sharing.

A double-decker ride of laughs and misunderstandings served up with tea and scones

Overall Rating

5 out of 5

The Accidental Life Swap #bookreview

The Accidental Life Swap

Author: Jennifer Joyce

Publisher: HQ Digital

Published: September 1, 2019

Genres: Women’s fiction, romantic comedy

Date read: August 22, 2019

Number of times read: 1

Format: E-book

Source: Netgalley

Summary

Sometimes one moment can change your life forever…
Rebecca Riley has always been a bit of a pushover. When her glamorous boss, Vanessa, asks her to jump, she doesn’t just ask how high… she asks if her boss would like her to grab a coffee on the way back down!
So whilst overseeing the renovation of Vanessa’s beautiful countryside home, the last thing Rebecca ever expected was to be mistaken for her boss – or that she would even consider going along with it! Far away from the bustling city and her boss’s demanding ways, could she pretend to be Vanessa and swap lives, just for a little while?-- via Goodreads

Review

I could not stop giggling my way through this book. Whilst some of the characters are a bit stereotypical, I still enjoyed this tale of mistaken identity.

Rebecca was the complete opposite of Vanessa so seeing her behave like her tyrant boss was hysterical and how she managed to avoid anyone finding out.

The board game battles with Oliver were great and the fact the decider was Hungry Hippos was brilliant. I can't think of a better way to spend an evening, to be honest.

The Animal Sanctuary was lovely, and I especially liked the escaping donkey tag team, and the territorial chickens (Chicken Chow-Mein, what a wonderful name).

The only thing that irked me a bit was Rebecca’s flatmate. If someone was that disgusting to live with, and he really was disgusting, there must have surely been other places to live. Even if she was on a really low budget, there had to be other slightly less awful places to live then to put up with a Neanderthal like Lee. But as this wasn’t a major part of the story, I could get over it.

The ending was slightly predictable but most rom-coms and chick-lit are so that didn’t bother me in the slightest, the story is in how the hero and heroine get from strangers/enemies to that happy ever after.

A hilarious tale of mistaken identity leads to you finding your real self.

Overall Rating

5 out of 5

The Beekeeper’s Cottage #bookreview

The Beekeeper’s Cottage

Author: Emma Davies

Publisher: Bookouture

Published: August 6, 2019

Genres: Women’s fiction

Date read: August 17, 2019

Number of times read: 1

Format: E-book

Source: Netgalley

Summary

Comforted by the gentle hum of the beehives at the bottom of the garden, Grace drains the last of her tea and walks slowly back towards the little hillside house she adores. Her marriage is over, but is it too late to start her life again?

Beekeeper Grace thought throwing out her cheating husband would be the hardest thing she ever did. But when she opens the door to a property developer one morning, it’s clear that keeping the beautiful home and garden – her only sanctuary throughout her miserable marriage – will be the greatest challenge of all…
Fleeing to her best friend at the flower farm next door, Grace blurts out all her problems, only to be overheard by Amos, a handsome, free-spirited visitor in bright red Doc Martens. Fascinated by Grace and her bees, Amos offers to stay in the village of Hope Corner, to help turn her home into a guest house in return for lessons on beekeeping.
As Grace shows Amos how to nurture a hive and harvest honeycomb without getting stung, he is charming but secretive. He never stays long in the same place after an incident in his past involving a mysterious woman named Maria. But as their eyes lock over a jar of homemade honey, Grace can’t help feeling that she’d really like him to stay…
Determined to dispel her growing suspicion that Amos is running from something serious, Grace goes in search of the truth about Maria. But when she finds it, will she still want Amos to put down roots in Hope Corner, and will they still have a house to return to? -- via Goodreads

Review

The first thing I loved about this story was the setting. The way both Grace’s cottage and Flora’s flower farm were described made me feel so happy and so at home, I immediately warmed to the characters within.

I had no idea this was the second book in a series, the first of which was Flora’s story. I shall definitely be looking that one out as even though this book has their story all wrapped up and thriving, it will be nice to read the story of how they got there. I also believe there was a short novella which introduced us to Amos, one of our main characters here so I will also be looking that up.

Speaking of Amos, I liked him right away. He had a way of knowing just where and when he was needed, not asking for anything in return, other than a place to lay his head, be it under a roof or under the stars. The image of him sleeping in Grace’s garden made me feel just as safe and content as it did Grace herself.

I loved how Grace interacted with her bees. Such misunderstood creatures but so beautiful and hard-working, they are just like Amos. They don’t bother anyone unless annoyed and they work so hard for their queen. I especially liked the way Grace talked to them, seeking advice and solace from her wretch of a husband, I’m so glad he got his comeuppance.

I like Emma Davies’ style of writing, her descriptions are spot on, so much so I can picture everything and everyone in such details, right down to Amos’ red Doc Martens.

I also enjoyed the fact the main characters were slightly older than the usual romantic novels featuring couples in their twenties or thirties. It just proves life and love don’t end at thirty-five.

I hope to see more from Emma Davies in the future.

Buzzing with a hint of mystery, this lovely tale of moving on is a delight to read.

Overall Rating

4 out of 5

A Clockwork Orange #review #bookreview

A Clockwork Orange

Author: Anthony Burgess
Publisher: William Heinemann

Published: September 6, 2012 (originally published, 1962)
Page count: 352
Genres: scifi, dystopian, speculative, horror

Date read: August 9, 2019

Number of times read: 1

Format: audiobook
Source: Audible

Summary

A vicious fifteen-year-old droog is the central character of this 1963 classic. In Anthony Burgess's nightmare vision of the future, where criminals take over after dark, the story is told by the central character, Alex, who talks in a brutal invented slang that brilliantly renders his and his friends' social pathology. A Clockwork Orange is a frightening fable about good and evil, and the meaning of human freedom. And when the state undertakes to reform Alex to "redeem" him, the novel asks, "At what cost?"

This edition includes the controversial last chapter not published in the first edition and Burgess's introduction "A Clockwork Orange Resucked." -- via Goodreads

Review

This is not a book you read for pleasure. 

This is not a book you "like" in the way you like Harry Potter or ice cream.

You don't "enjoy" it...but you do respect it for what it achieves as a piece of writing. It is a very well constructed piece of writing. Linguistically marvelous for sure. Burgess's NADSAT is up there with Tolkien's elvish in terms of language creation, which makes sense when you read that Burgess, like Tolkien, had a background in linguistics. The melange of Russian and British with NADSAT points to influence by Russia onto the British youth culture in the novel's dystopian alternate timeline. Even though it's not an influence that is ever explored, probably because our extremely unreliable narrator is a 15-year old boy who couldn't give a flying fuck about the influence of other countries on his own, it's an interesting thread for the reader to consider alongside everything else Burgess presents. 

A Clockwork Orange is a disturbing book from the outset. From the very first sentence you know you're in for a brutal "what the fuck is Burgess thinking?" ride. There's such an extreme level of violence and depravity that the narrator engages in that Burgess coined his own NADSAT phrase for it, ultra-violence, which has seeped into popular culture to describe random acts of violence simply for the sake of violence. Because Alex is the narrator, the reader is treated to a first-hand journey into the depth of his depravity. He spares no expense describing what he does in lurid detail, I think the linguistic oddities of NADSAT are the only reason I could actually get through reading the book. If it had been written in plain English the level of description would have been far, far too much for my overactive imagination. It was hard enough with the NADSAT. It's not a take I've seen often in fiction, where an author fully immerses the reader in the mind of a deranged teenager and sends them down the rabbit hole of their darkness. I can think of only two other times I've experienced it. Stephen King's novella Apt Pupil and Christopher Pike's TheWicked Heart, both of which eerily enough involved Nazi influence on the narrators.

The next bit of this review is going to be a bit spoilery so I'm adding a jump cut...

The Perfect Dress #bookreview

The Perfect Dress

Author: Louisa Leaman

Publisher: Transworld Digital

Published: October 17, 2019

Genres: romance, contemporary

Date read: August 7, 2019

Number of times read: 1

Format: E-book

Source: Netgalley

Summary

Fran’s wedding dress shop isn’t like any other. A treasure trove of history, filled with gowns from every decade for every type of bride. But not as you’d expect.

Something bold for the shy and retiring.
Something simple for the woman who is unafraid to stand out.
And something dazzling for the bride who wouldn’t normally dare to be different.

No matter your expectations, you’d never guess your own perfect dress. But Fran knows… she feels the wisdom woven into every gown, a gift from the previous owner waiting to be handed down to the next bride.

When Fran finds a dress that seems to be perfect for her she can’t wait to know its complex history which starts with her getting to know the son of the previous owner…. -- via Goodreads

Review

Weddings! I love reading about weddings and all the frippery that goes with it, despite never having been there, done that. So when a book like this comes along that pretty much guarantees nuptials, it’s definitely one for my TBR shelf.

So Fran is a sweet girl, running the Whispering Dress wedding dress shop. She doesn’t sell your usual mass-produced gowns, not worried about a quick sale or big commission. She wants to make sure her brides get the right dress, not necessarily what they think they want but what Fran knows they need. All her dresses are described in so much detail by the author, you can see them. So when she finds a one-of-a-kind exquisite dress in a house clearance, you are drawn into the history of the dress just as much as Fran is.

Of course, it helps that Raf happens to be the guy giving the dress away. Whilst he is gorgeous and captivating, at the same time he is moody, arrogant and very secretive. Both Fran and Raf have baggage, all of which is ensuring that their relationship will not run smoothly. We find out Raf’s secrets first because he lets his guard down first to the point you think it’s all worked out but just then Fran’s emotional luggage holds them back.

Ultimately it all comes down to the dress. It both drives them apart and pulls them together at different points in the story.

Sewn together like the lace and silk of the wedding gowns within, this romance is both beautiful and full of mystery.

Overall Rating

4 out of 5

Copy received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

You, Me and the Movies #bookreview

You, Me and the Movies

Author: Fiona Collins

Publisher: Transworld Digital

Published: April 4, 2019

Genres: romance, contemporary

Date read: July 27, 2019

Number of times read: 1

Format: E-book

Source: Netgalley

Summary

He only speaks in movie references but they make her remember everything...

After a marriage which threatened her entire sense of self, Arden Hall is divorced, doing a lacklustre job and living a quiet, rather unexciting life. But one day, visiting a friend in a London hospital, she suddenly re-encounters her former lover from thirty years ago, charismatic Film Studies lecturer, Mac Bartley-Thomas, who is lying in a bed on the same ward.

Suffering from a brain injury and unable to converse, all Mac can utter is short references to the famous films he and Arden once watched together, back when she was a student and they conducted their affair: Casablanca, Bonnie and Clyde, Some Like It Hot and more...

These movies spark both bittersweet memories of their passionate relationship and the potential for a more reflective Arden to finally fulfil the promise of her younger self. And in the course of her visits to Mac, she starts to reconnect with the world in a way that she didn’t think was possible... -- via Goodreads


Review

For anyone who knows me, they would know that films and movies are one of my big loves. Whereas my reading genres are more or less fixed, my film viewing is a little more eclectic, although I steer clear of horror in any format.

This book really appealed to me as not only was it romance-driven, it also brought several great movies to life.

The timeline jumps back and forth, starting with present-day Arden, who is just drifting along in life, not overly happy in her job and has escaped from a mentally abusive husband and is not looking to find another love. A chance meeting with an old friend leads to her visiting another old friend in hospital and by chance, discovering her one true love and lecturer Mac. This leads to flashbacks to her student days when she and Mac were involved in a passionate affair, based on movies as this was Mac’s vocation.

Present-day Mac is unable to speak, save for a few words which are movie references to ‘The List’, a list of films he was working on for his students, which Arden watched with him during their affair, giving her own insights and opinions.

As their affair continues, you already know it’s doomed to end, given that they haven’t seen each other for thirty years but it’s how the affair ends and it’s the effect on Arden that makes you keep reading. As she visits Mac, gets to know his neighbour James who is also visiting and also searches for Mac’s estranged son Lloyd, Arden starts to blossom and come out of her shell. We also learn about Arden’s family, her parents, who had a huge impact on her life both as a student and an adult.

The ending was inevitable yet satisfying, it was the only sensible conclusion to this wonderful story of love, loss and rebirth that made me both happy and sad at the same time.

For romance lovers and movie lovers, this will capture your heart and soul

Overall Rating

4 out of 5

Copy received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Royal Treatment #bookreview #canadiancontent

The Royal Treatment

Author: Melanie Summers (M.J. Summers)
Publisher: Gretz Corp

Published: September 13, 2017
Page count: 294
Genres: romance, chic lit, contemporary

Date read: March 23, 2019

Number of times read: 1

Format: paperback
Source: Borrowed it from Angie, who won it

Summary

For fans of Bridget Jones and The Princess Diaries comes a laugh-out-loud, feel-good comedy with a sizzling side of romance…

Ultra-private, ridiculously handsome Crown Prince Arthur has always gotten by on his charm. But that won’t be enough now that the Royal Family is about to be ousted from power once and for all. When Prince Arthur has to rely on the one woman in the kingdom who hates him most, he must learn that earning the love of a nation means first risking his heart.

Twenty-eight-year-old Tessa Sharpe, a.k.a. The Royal Watchdog, hates everything about Prince Arthur. As far as she’s concerned, he’s an arrogant, lazy leech on the kingdom of Avonia. When he shocks the nation by giving her the keys to the castle, Tessa has no choice but to accept and move in for two months. It’s lust at first sight, but there’s no way she can give in to her feelings—not if she wants to have a career or a shred of pride left when her time at the palace ends…

Can two natural enemies find their forever in each other’s arms, or will they ruin each other to save themselves? -- via Goodreads

Review

Let me start my review by telling you the story of how I came to this book because it really set my expectations for how I read the book. Angie won the book in late 2017 and read it in January 2018. I commented that it sounded like something I'd want to read and that I'd have to borrow her e-reader the next time I visited her. She informed me that she'd won an autographed physical copy and then sent it to me in the mail and it sat on my bookshelf ever since. For her birthday this year, I wanted to buy her the second and third books in the series as paperbacks to match her first book. And then I thought to myself, "Ooooh I wonder if I reach out to the author if I could buy some signed bookplates off of her so I can really get Angie a matched set." So with that in mind, I hunted down the email address for Melanie Summers, who is a Canadian author, and I emailed her and told her the whole story. I certainly was not expecting the response that I received or especially the speed with which she responded. Melanie is absolutely lovely, and based on this interaction she is now one of my favourite authors. Within two hours of receiving my email, she emailed me back to tell me that she loved my idea so much that she was going to send Angie personalised autographed copies of both books 2 and 3 on my behalf. So I was obviously stupidly excited about that. I told Angie that her birthday gift might be delayed because I know what Canada Post can be like about shipping to England, but it arrived early, and when Angie opened it she was absolutely over the moon.

Now, backstory out of the way, let's get to my actual review of the book. My expectations going into it were high based on the fact that Angie loved it and that I had such a positive experience with the author. I wanted to love it, but I was also a bit nervous because it's described as a romantic comedy and I am VERY much hit or miss with romantic comedies. I really don't like most of them I find a lot of romantic comedies too awkward and as an awkward and anxious person watch or reading about people in long, drawn out, awkward situations sets off my own anxiety. But I really enjoyed the book. Sure, there was some awkwardness, that just goes with the territory for a romantic comedy, the awkwardness tends to be where the comedy comes from. However, what made this book make the list of romantic comedies I enjoy, is that not ALL of the comedy came from awkward moments, and the awkward moments were far enough between and not so drawn out that they made me uncomfortable. Summers does a very good job of tempering awkward humour with witty humour and has a fantastic mix of sweetness that runs throughout all of it.

Tessa is, for the most part, an incredibly relatable and realistic character. It's incredibly easy to sympathise with her and to put yourself into her shoes. She's supposed to be the average, everywoman character who the reader can imagine themselves as. But she's unique enough, intelligent enough, and independent enough to really stand out and stand up on her own. Being the only daughter in a family of highly intelligent and highly dickish brothers (one of whom is an astrophysics professor, and I'm only mildly disappointed she just didn't make the obvious rocket scientist joke) who treat her like crap it shouldn't come as a surprise that the author has also given her a crap history with men. But for all that Tessa is strong-willed, she knows what she wants, and barring disastrous accidents is for the most part pretty good about making it happen on her own for most of the book. She's a woman who has been beaten down by men her whole life and so she doesn't trust them, and this is especially true of Prince Arthur.

Prince Arthur, I'm so glad to bring him up. I love him as a character. He is a case study in subversions in a lot of ways. As is his relationship with Tessa really. To me, he really seems to almost take on the feminine role in the relationship with Tessa. Usually, in this genre you see the girl trying to change herself for the guy, trying to get him to fall for her etc. But here, it's Arthur doing those things and I love that Summers has subverted the gender expectations that way. It makes me incredibly happy, that of the two main characters. Arthur is the one to fall in love first and the one to acknowledge his feelings. Now don't get me wrong he still really stands in the masculine role as well. He starts off as a cocky womaniser, but those are learned behaviours that he got from his awful father and you watch him grow out of them as he grows closer to Tessa. 

The plot wasn't anything revolutionary. Your standard romantic comedy set-up of two seemingly incompatible people meeting under unusual circumstances, hijinx ensue, love happens. What makes this book stand out is the characters and the specific hijinx. You've got a disgraced journalist cum political shock blogger (pun VERY much intended for those of you who have read/will read this book) who finds herself living in the palace with the very family that she advocates against on her blog. You've got a prince who is trying to get some good PR because he's scared the country is about to oust his family. You see what's going to happen from a mile away, but you enjoy every moment of getting there with Tessa and Arthur. Overall, I really did enjoy the book, and I'll definitely be finishing the series.

If you watched Julia Stiles's The Prince and Me film, and enjoyed it, then I think you'll really like this book because it's in the same vein.

Overall Rating

4 bolts