Review: The Rest Of Me by Katie Marsh

Alex Fox knows there are lots of things she should be.

She should be the perfect wife to her chronically ill husband Sam, and the perfect motherto their two daughters. She should be excelling in her high-stress job. And she should be completing the demanding to-do lists she makes to keep herself on track.

Even if, just sometimes, she doesn't have time to breathe.

When Sam's condition worsens and Alex donates a kidney to save his life, her carefully scheduled existence starts to unravel - eventually forcing her to face up to a past that she has buried for years.

As the family she has fought so hard for threatens to fall apart, can Alex finally confront the mistakes that have shaped her - and rediscover what is most important in life?

Review: this book was such a surprise in that I was expecting a book about a husband and wife and their love and their health but what I got was a book with a strong feminist message and a book which highlights the devastating effects of bullying on both children and adults-so unique!

Firstly, I love the way this book is structured. We have a dual narrative between Mum Alex and daughter Izzy. I really love when we have a child narrator even as part of the story because we get such honesty and such innocence when we have a child narrator, it brings a whole other level to the book. I also loved the fact that Alex's sections had the to-do list at the start of them just like on the back of the book so we get to see what state of mind she is even before we start reading her chapters. 

As I've mentioned, we have very different leading characters in this novel. As well as Alex, we have Sam, her husband to whom she gives the kidney. Sam is great and definitely provides the lighter moments of the book, but he's a little naive too because he doesn't always realise what is going on with his wife and children. Izzy is a great character but is such a worrier, she is playing out some of the worries her mum has now and also some of those she had as a child. Jenna is the older daughter of the family and she is also worried about her parents but at the same time as being worried about school, how she looks and sex. 

Alex is a great main character because she has all the worries that we often have as women on a day to day basis but also she has some skeletons from her past that have made her the way she is. We get to find out about those in due course but they have definitely had an impact on the way she lives her life. I also love the fact that Alex notices the discrimination she faces as a women in the workplace but also as a women in the home. She feels like she has to be strong to show her daughters how to be strong but also because she has a husband who has been so sick for so long. I could both sympathise and empathise with her as a character and I loved spending time with her. 

Yes I cried at multiple points in this novel because there are obviously sad and worrying times for this family. But I also cheered at the way Alex and co challenge some of the discrimination that women face. I also loved the fact that even ten year old Izzy was already stomping all over those gender stereotypes and the whole thing just felt very empowering. I was drawn into the story and raced through it in just two sittings. I would definitely recommend adding this one to your TBR!

To order your copy now, just click the link: UK or US

Review: Big Sexy Love by Kirsty Greenwood

Olive Brewster is a scaredy cat. She doesn't do new or risky. She’s happy enough with her job at the local market, it’s cool that she has no boyfriend to fret over, she even likes that she still lives in her childhood home. No drama, no fuss, no problems. Everything is fine. Super duper fine.

Except … Olive's best friend in the world​, Birdie, is dying.

Birdie has one final wish. She wants to track down her first love, Chuck, and because she's stuck in the hospital she needs Olive's help to do it. But there’s a teeny problem: Chuck is somewhere in New York and Olive has never even left her home town, let alone roamed the crazy streets of Manhattan.

As if the big city isn't scary enough, Olive has to contend with Seth, a cocky comedy TV writer who thinks she’s a joke; Anders, a bored socialite who’s taken a shine to her; and the fact that no matter how hard she tries to track down Chuck, he doesn't seem to want to be found.

Can Olive learn to overcome her fears, abandon her old safe routine and fulfil her best friend’s last wish? It's going to take extra bravery, one badass attitude and a whole lot of big sexy love to make this happen …

 

Review: I loved this book so much. Kirsty Greenwood is now a total auto buy author for me because her books just absolutely blow me away with the storyline, the characters and her ability to write such epic romances that happen to such real and likable characters. Seriously I enjoyed this book so so much!

 

The characters in this book are so easy to get to know and so easy to like and so right from the beginning you feel that they are your friends and you are ready to get stuck into their story and take this journey with them. I loved the fact that Olive begins this story and someone who chooses to lead a fairly sheltered life, and she's absolutely fine with that. I also love the fact that she works on a fish stall-when was the last time you read a book about a fishmonger? Her best friend Birdie is fabulous and they interact just like me and my best friend, I'm sure all readers will be saying the same thing! Birdie is great and we know right from the start that she has a terminal illness, but she doesn't let that hold her back and Kirsty doesn't let that cast a dark shadow over the novel at all.

 

There a whole host of other character to love and love to hate as well. The fabulous Seth, funny little Colin; Anders the GBF and Olive's family. I absolutely loved meeting everyone and getting to know how they were going to play a part in Olive's story. New York is obviously another fabulous character in this book. Everyone knows I love a story set in New York and the fact that I was there whilst I was reading it made it even more fun! I loved the fact that there are views of the city from the river and they even go over to Staten Island. Olive gets to live in an actual apartment as well, something which most tourists won't get to do.

 

Another thing which I really enjoyed about the book was the way it was structured. The chapters are a great length, not to long and just short enough that you bargain just one more with yourself again and again when you are totally supposed to be somewhere else other than the pages of Olive's story. Each chapter begins with a text or a tweet, sometimes multiple and these can be really really funny. In fact the book made me laugh out loud many many times! I also cried in public and shouted 'bitch!' at one of the characters in the book, thankfully I was in a noisy Starbucks so that was ok!

 

This is a great read and I guarantee you will fly through it. I really recognised myself in some of these characters and loved spending time with them! There is such fabulous romance and just a really great story and setting. You don't have to have read Kirsty's other books to read this one, it would be a great intro to this fab author,. This would also be great to read at any time of year but I definitely recommend reading it right now because you will love it!

 

To order your copy now, just click the link! UK or US

Review: The One We Fell in Love With by Paige Toon

Phoebe is caught between a rock and a hard place. Settle down and get married, or return to the French Alps to pursue her passion?

Eliza is in love with someone who is no longer hers. In fact, he probably never was… And her dream of becoming a musician seems to be spiralling down the drain.

Rose is out of a job and out of a boyfriend. To make matters worse, she’s been forced to move back in with her mother…

But these very different girls have one thing in common. Angus. The one they fell in love with…

Review: Oh i loved this book so much so just be prepared for a gushy review! I loved the premise of this book the moment I heard it, identical triplets and all of them falling in loved with the same guy-how awesome does that sound, but once you actually get to reading it, it is so much deeper than this! I laughed, i cried, I never wanted it to end!

So the characters, the triplets, although identical are very different people and they each get a turn at a chapter in this novel so the reader can see just how different each of them are. I loved that I got to hear about things from their points of view and I think that this made the novel even more pacey because something would happen and you would have to keep reading to find out what someone else thought of this happening or how they would react to an event. I really related to each of them in their own way but I think that Eliza strikes me as the strongest of the three even though she isn't seen that way by most of the other characters in this novel!

I loved the relationship that they had with each other and I loved that each of the triplets have a different relationship with Angus as well. There were parts of the novel where I thought that Angus was a little weak, that he knew he was loved and he was capitalising on it, but we only get to heard about what Angus thinks through the other women's chapters and so his story unfolds slowly, layer after layer being revealed and so I really changed my opinion about him by the end of the book!

There is so much to say about this book but so much of it would give away far too much. I was very lucky that I didn't hear any spoilers about this novel and I want to keep it that was for other people. I read this in a day, it is a proper page turner. Paige Toon writes the perfect length of chapter and the subject matter here lends itself well to a short chapter. I defy anyone not to love this and if you haven't already, this needs to be added to your TBR now!

To get your copy click here!

Review: One by Sarah Crossan

Grace and Tippi. Tippi and Grace. Two sisters. Two hearts. Two dreams. Two lives. But one body.

Grace and Tippi are conjoined twins, joined at the waist, defying the odds of survival for sixteen years. They share everything, and they are everything to each other. They would never imagine being apart. For them, that would be the real tragedy.

But something is happening to them. Something they hoped would never happen. And Grace doesn’t want to admit it. Not even to Tippi.

How long can they hide from the truth—how long before they must face the most impossible choice of their lives? 

Review: ok so I hadn't read any Sarah Crossan before, I think I may own some Sarah Crossan but this one came so highly recommend on twitter, in Bookshops, from other bloggers who know what I like that I had to get it. I ended up downloading the audiobook because I knew I wanted to read it straight away and I only had time for audiobooks in the final term at school so... I would definitely be interested in owning a physical copy of this book because I have flicked through it in Bookshops and it seems like a really cool way to read a book, the set up, the structure, the way it is set in verse. I can tell from the audiobook that I would be a really quick read that way too and so I definitely plan on buying the physical version of this book so that I can experience the structure as well as just the story. 

The subject matter of this book is really interesting and I never thought that I would so interested in a book like this but in was fascinated by the thoughts and feelings that come across from these confined twins, these characters in this book and the way Sarah across an must have put so much research into this that u found myself swept along with their story. It's really hard to talk too much more about the subject matter without giving away spoilers but I did really enjoy that this was a new subject for a book for me and I think the uniqueness is the reason, along with the structure that so many people liked it. 

I do feel a little like this book suffered in my rating of it because of the length and because of the fact that scenes sometimes felt a little disjointed because of the structure of it, the rhythm and the pace were obviously a key focus here and so I think it meant that there wasn't as much depth as I'd hoped there'd be in the book, or it could be the fact that it is designed for younger readers and so further depth might have affected the audience and purpose. I liked the fact that it was a quick read and I enjoyed listening to it on audiobook because I think it meant that the verse came to life and I felt as if I knew these characters well because of listening to their story rather than reading it. 

This book has been a hit and has been nominated for awards, I don't think that I loved it as much as some of my friends  but it is definitely, something different for so many reasons and so I think it is definitely something that you should give a go, if not for any other reason than the novelty of the structure and the subject matter. I also love the cover and definitely want to have it sitting on my bookshelf! 

To order your copy now, click here!

Review: Our Song by Dani Atkins

The stunning new emotional drama from ebook phenomenon Dani Atkins, author of Fractured - perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes and Dorothy Koomson.

This is the story of Ally and Charlotte, whose paths have intersected over the years though they've never really been close friends. Charlotte married Ally's ex and first true love, David. Fate is about to bring them together one last, dramatic time and change their lives forever. 

Full of Dani's signature warmth and emotion, this is a gripping and emotional family drama. With breath-taking plot twists, Dani explores themes of serendipity, friendship and love. She fully engages the reader in the dilemmas faced by her characters. What would you do if your husband was the love of somebody else's life? And when faced with an agonising decision, could you put the past behind you and do the right thing?

Review: I put off reading this book for a little while because I was told it was going to make me cry. I haven't been in the mood for a weepy recently but eventually I decided that the best tactic to take was probably going to be to download the audiobook. So i listened to this audiobook as part of a readathon and so I absolutely flew through ti but this allowed me to immerse myself in the story and really get to know these four main characters. Let me tell you-I loved this book so much more that I thought I would!

I think the thing I liked most about the book was the structure. I really like the fact that we meet these two women and have no idea how they are connected to the men we meet at the beginning of the novel or any idea how they are connected to one another. As the story develops, we learn more about each one through her moder day life and also through flashbacks. I love the fact that this is actually a bit of a mystery-figuring out how everything all ties up and how it is going to end up!

I really like the fact that this is centred on two women. I like the fact that they hold the power. Although they are there because of a man or two men, they still hold the power in the book and I really respect thw writer for that. I think that, had this been more male-centric, I wouldn't have warmed to the story line or the characters as much. Speaking or storyline, this is one is seriously dramatic. There are twists and turns left right and centre and of course real moments where tissues will be needed. Because you get so invested in these two women, it is bound to be emotional and so this definitely comes with a tissue warning.

Despite the fact that this book is emotional, this was a really good read. I didn't cry as much as I thought I would. I think this was because the book is also heart warming and also affirms the role of the strong woman in this kind of a novel. I really recommend this book, although set aside plenty of reading time-you're going to want to stick with this one!

Blog Tour! Review of The Night That Changed Everything by Laura Taitand Jimmy Rice

Rebecca is the only girl she knows who didn't cry at the end of Titanic. Ben is the only man he knows who did. Rebecca’s untidy but Ben doesn’t mind picking up her pieces. Ben is laid back by Rebecca keeps him on his toes. They're a perfect match.

Nothing can come between them. Or so they think.

When a throwaway comment reveals a secret from the past, their love story is rewritten.

Can they recover from the night that changed everything? And how do you forgive when you can’t forget?

The Night That Changed Everything is a funny, feel-good and bittersweet story, told in alternate chapters by Laura Tait and Jimmy Rice. 

Review: ok so I just finished this book and I just want to shout all about it. This is the first book this year I've totally wanted to give more than five stars to and shove it into the hands of passers by-I loved it! Ok now that's the gushy bit over and done with, what did I love so much about it? Firstly this book is a dual narrative, which I LOVE, and so we got to see the story from both sides. The books is also broken up into sections so it jumps about a bit in terms of time so that we can really understand how each of the characters read/saw a situation that occurred. This dual narrative also meant that this was an extremely fast read. I read this is three sittings, which as you'll know right now is a major achievements in my busy life! 

I loved the characters that Jimmy and Laura wrote, not just Rebecca and Ben but the supporting characters too, Jamie was the lynchpin that held things together, Jemma and Russ were pure comedy value and Tom and Danielle played important friendship roles as well. I really loved Jemma as a character, she was so funny and I would really really like to find out what happens next for her. In terms of being 'team Ben' or 'team Rebecca' I'm definitely more of a team Ben, although I loved reading the sections of Rebecca's story as much as I loved reading his story. The characters are so well developed that, as I sit here writing this, I miss them and wonder how they are all getting on! 

This book gave me all the feels. I know that everyone says that but I literally laughed out loud in public places, exclaimed OH MY GOD in several sections and bawled my eyes out more than once (thankfully only one of those occasions was in public). The storyline was tight and took place over a couple of years, the setting was really easy to picture and the characters felt real. I don't want to say too much more about this book because a) I don't want to gush too much more, b) I don't want to spoil a anything for you and c) I want you to stop reading this and go ahead and read the book, it'll be the best fun you'll have in 400 pages this month! 

Thank you Laura and Jimmy for having me on your blog tour! 

Book Launch! Julie Cohen: Where Love Lies

On Thyrsday I was lucky enough to attend the Launch of Julie Cohen's latest book Where Love Lies which is published by Transworld on Thursday 31st July.

The event was held in a fabulous bookshop in the very trendy Notting Hill area. It was a gorgeous bookshop called Lutiyens & RubinsteinBookshop-I suggest you check it out when in the area! 

The event featured the perfume from the book which the gorgeous Julie Cohen was spraying on her guests as well as wine & nibble provided by the publishers. There were a host of other authors and bloggers in attendance and it was fab to be able to catch up with some of the Loveliest writers in the business-you know who you are!

Julie gave a fab reading from the book which whet everyone's taste buds for what was to come...

Julie was also lovely enough to give out presents to her publicity team  who were all dresses in matching navy...and was also lovely enough to sign my book!

 Thanks to Transworld & Miranda Dickinson for the invite to what was a lovely evening. The book is fab & my review will be up this Thursday!