Review: Some Kind of Wonderful by Giovanna Fletcher

When the love of your life says you're not The One, who are you? Lizzy and Ian have been a couple since the first week of university. Now, after celebrating a decade together, everyone thinks they're about to get engaged. Instead, a romantic escape to Dubai leaves Lizzy with no ring, no fiancé and no future. Lizzy is heartbroken - but through the tears, she sees an opportunity. This is her moment to discover what she's been missing while playing Ian's ideal 'better half'. But how much has Ian changed her, and who should she be without him? Determined to discover who she is at heart, Lizzy sets out to rediscover the girl she was before - and, in the meantime, have a little fun . . . 

Review: This book instantly felt like a classic rom com as soon as I started reading it. The strong female lead, the rubbish boy friend, the whole premise of the book screams everything that I love from my favourite genre of book and it delivered as well. I loved the fact that we have a strong female lead in this book. All of Giovanna's books have this in common but this one seemed a little different from her others so I was a little worried that the lead might be a little more of a pushover but she is feisty and I loved spending time with Lizzy. The other characters in the novel provide great comedy moments and great moments of tenderness too. I loved that fact that Lizzy is close with both of her parents. She has an amazing best friend who is a serial dater and so has great stories to tell. My favourite supporting character though had to be sister Emily. She was wonderful, I want to be her and I loved every scene with her in. 

This book is also very easy to relate to. Lizzy is in her late twenties and so has a lot of the same teenage memories that I have. She has some really nostalgic moments that I was nodding along with thinking 'me too, me too' so that was wonderful. She is also at a bit of a crossroads in her life and so goes back and relies on the support of her parents, something which I could also identify with, and I;m sure a lot of readers out there will also be able to understand. This book is also set in a very relatable setting Lizzy doesn't have a glamorous London lifestyle, she lives in Essex, so not a million miles away from London but still embraces the village life and is around those she knew growing up, I really liked this aspect of the book. 

Although this isn't a Christmas book, Christmas does take place during the course of the novel and is a cosy family affair so I really enjoyed the fact that I left this book until December to really get into. There are also themes of a new beginning and reflection on the past which people do during the last month of the year before we see in a new one! I listened to this book on audiobook and I really enjoyed the voice that the narrator gave Lizzy, I found I could identify with her more because I got used to that particular voice. For more exciting moments though, the narrator was a little monotone. I couldn't imagine Lizzy not getting more than a little het up at an argument with her boyfriend or exciting moments on New Year's eve. 

If you follow this author on YouTube or Instagram then you will definitely be able to see parts of her personality in this book and I liked that, she also mentions the charity that she works with which I thought was great. one of the other moments that I really liked was that she mentions more of my favourites authors, Lizzy apparently has the same taste in book as me since we are both fans of Lindsey Kelk and Paige Toon. 

This was a really lovely read and if you are after a very classic, Sophie Kinsella feeling, romantic comedy then this one is most definitely for you. Although it isn't a Christmas book it makes for perfect reading at this time of year and so I would definitely recommend popping this one on your Christmas list or downloading it now and enjoying a moment of calm in the run up to the festivities. 

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

Review: Boys Don't Knit (In Public) by TS Easton

Meet Ben Fletcher, an Adrian Mole for a new generation

Ben Fletcher must get to grips with his more 'feminine' side following an unfortunate incident with a lollipop lady and a stolen bottle of Martini Rosso from Waitrose. All a big misunderstanding of course.

To avoid the Young Offenders unit, Ben is ordered to give something back to the community and develop his sense of social alignment. Take up a hobby and keep on the straight and narrow. The hot teacher he likes runs a knitting group so Ben, reluctantly at first, gets 'stuck in'. Not easy when your dad is a sports fan and thinks Jeremy Clarkson is God. To his surprise, Ben finds that he likes knitting and that he has a mean competitive streak. If he can just keep it all a secret from his mates...and notice that the girl of his dreams, girl-next-door Megan Hooper has a bit of a thing for him...

Review: wow I really totally loved this book. I felt like I was watching a TV show about some unlikely lads and how they all got themselves in and out of trouble. I laughed so much reading this and just generally had a jolly good time. 

I think it was interesting that the whole premise behind this book is that Ben is doing things that are all requirements of his probation and yet I found myself forgetting so often that he had done something wrong and was now dealing with the consequences. I really liked Ben as a character and he really does seem like a decent stand up gentleman. There are even knitting magazines hidden under his bed where you might expect other kinds of magazines to be hiding as well. Ben's friends, as I mentioned above, are also interesting characters. They just remind me of the lads that I went to school with and one of them is even attempting to write a sort of Fifty Shades of Grey spin off novel-how hilarious is that?

This book is very very funny but there are also some decent messages for life in here too. Ben really does grow and change because of his court mandated knitting and community service. He really is a decent person to start with but gains a level of maturity throughout the novel. He also finds out what happens when a lie spirals out of control. There is a little romance in this novel, and not just between Ben's parents (who are very much as embarrassing as a teenage boy's parents should be) and I liked that there was just a smattering of that left in there. Despite the fact that there is some slightly offensive language in there and allusions to sex in some scenes, I think this would definitely be something entertaining for the younger end of the YA audience, with those disclosures in mind. 

This is a very British read, despite me having read the US version and translating certain things in my head as I went along and I loved that about it. I really enjoyed getting to know Ben and his friends and also getting to know a little bit more about knitting and football (soccer). I would definitely recommend this read, it was very funny and thoroughly entertaining!

To get your copy now, click here!

Blog Tour! Review: The Summer of Serendipity by Ali McNamara

You'll find a warm welcome in the latest novel from Ali McNamara, bestselling author of The Little Flower Shop by the Sea and From Notting Hill with Love, Actually

One summer, property seeker, Serendipity Parker finds herself on the beautiful west coast of Ireland, hunting for a home for a wealthy Irish client. But when she finds the perfect house in the small town of Ballykiltara, there's a problem; nobody seems to know who owns it.

'The Welcome House' is a local legend. Its front door is always open for those in need of shelter, and there's always a plentiful supply of food in the cupboards for the hungry or poor.

While Ren desperately tries to find the owner to see if she can negotiate a sale, she begins to delve deeper into the history and legends that surround the old house and the town. But for a woman who has always been focussed on her work, she's remarkably distracted by Finn, the attractive manager of the local hotel.
But will she ever discover the real truth behind the mysterious 'Welcome House'? Or will the house cast its magical spell over Ren and help her to find true happiness?

Review: I was so excited to read Ali McNamara's latest novel. It has been a little while since I delved into her world and it was so great to be back. The stories that this author writes are feel-good reads with strong female leads with just a little hint of magic about them. This was no exception 

When I mention magic, this might be the fates aligning or might be something more but it really does give you, as a reader, a true sense of escapism. You have to put real life and any sort of cynicism or disbelief you have to one side for the duration of the book and let this author whisk you away into her world. I read this book in just 2 sittings and I'm sure I can say the same thing about her previous novels too because they really do just envelope you and allow you to hide away in whatever world lie within for 300 or so pages!

This is a little bit of a spin off from the last Ali McNamara that I read 'Breakfast at Darcy's' and it was great to be back in Ireland again and to revisit some of the characters from that novel. This is by no means a sequel though and you can definitely read this book despite not having read breakfast at Darcy's. For fans of that book though, it will be lovely to be back in that setting and surrounded by the same kind of Irish legends that we enjoyed in the first book. 

I really enjoyed getting to know Main character Ren over the course of this novel. She is incredibly easy to get along with and easy to relate to because she is her own person and has her own business but we know she has been hurt in some way in the past and therefore has her guard up. I loved reading about someone so really and yet someone I could so easily see myself being friends with. She and her partner Kiki are on this journey together and I loved meeting Kiki too, she is definitely the Ying to Ren's Yang and so the two of them really work well as a team. If anything I would love to read a spin off finding out what happens to Kiki now this novel is over-please?

There are of course a few male characters to get to know in this novel too, always a happy co-incidence. I loved hotel manager Finn and his fabulous dog Fergus. He is very like Ren and so I had high hopes for the tow of them from the start of the novel-not giving anything away though! There are also some real characters in the village and possibly some people to help Ren along her way. 

This is the perfect summer read because of the location and the little touch of magic that lies within the pages and so i highly recommend adding this to your summer TBRs. I am sure you will have just as much fun as I did hanging out with Kiki and Ren and helping them along on their quest to find the perfect house!

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

Guest Review: The Once in a Blue Moon Guesthouse by Cressida McLaughlin

The charming new bestseller from the No.1 bestselling author of The Canal Boat Cafe

Robin Brennan has come home to Campion Bay. Now her parents have retired, she’s set to become the new landlady of The Campion Bay Guesthouse.

Bookings have been as thin as the hand towels, and it doesn’t take long for Robin to realise that the place needs a serious makeover. Perhaps throwing herself into the task will help to heal her sadness at the tragic end to her dreams in London.

As she gives the guesthouse a new lease of life, Robin encounters old friends and new, including old flame Tim, who’d clearly like to reboot their romance. But what about Will, the new arrival at No. 4, who’s rocked up with the cutest dog ever?

Caught up in a flurry of full-English breakfasts and cream teas, Robin’s never sure what, or who, the next check-in will bring…

Review: Another heart-warming story from Cressida McLaughlin, this time set in a little Dorset seaside town. Like her previous books, this one was originally published as an e-serial in 4 parts, but the whole story is now available in both ebook and paperback formats, giving the reader the choice. However, if you choose the ebook, you will miss out on the fabulous cover of the paperback, which feels nice as well as looking really attractive, and invites you inside to read about the marvellous seaside location it depicts. 

The lead female in the story is Robin Brennan, who has returned to Campion Bay to help her parents run their ailing guest house, having just folded her London-based events company. She realises that if it is to succeed, the guest house needs a complete makeover, and sets about making it into the most luxurious sounding destination, with some unique features. The seafront road where the guest house sits is also home to a few other businesses, the proprietors of which are all friendly and interesting characters. They include Robin's great friend, Molly and her daughter Paige, the father and son who run the Greek restaurant, and the couple who run the coffee shop. There is also a rather interesting crazy golf course on the doorstep. Of course, no romance would be complete without the addition of one or two eligible men around. Robin has the choice of her ex, Tim, and new neighbour, Will; they are very different, but I know who I would choose. 

This really is a lovely story. In fact, as it says on the cover in no less than three places, it could definitely be described as 'warm'. I found it easy to read, and the characters in the story were all believable and, almost without exception, extremely likeable. Unless Cressida actually found a hotel boasting rooms such as those Robin creates in the story, she has a great flair for design of which I am envious.  Of course, not everything is plain sailing for Robin and her friends, but the twists and turns are of the type that add interest to any narrative. 

To order your copy now, just click here!

Review: Hot Mess by Lucy Vine

Hot Mess [n.] - someone who is attractive, but often in a state of disarray, repeatedly finding themselves in uncomfortable predicaments.

Ellie Knight is just like you. Her life isn't turning out the way she thought it would. Some people might say she's a hot mess but then who really has their s**t together before they're thirty?

It's Valentine's Day and Ellie Knight finds herself eating Nutella in the bar stockroom after a no-show date.
But single doesn't have to be the loneliest number, does it?
She goes back home to her flatshare and weird flatmates.
It's ok there's black mould everywhere, right?
With a hangover from hell, she goes to the office job she thought she would have quit by now.
Doesn't everyone hate their job?

Maybe Ellie isn't following the *official life plan* but perfect is overrated. For fans of Fleabag and Girls, this is a fresh and funny coming-of-age story with a single-girl heroine that everyone will relate to - a modern Carrie Bradshaw meets Bridget Jones.

Review: The info about this book states that it features Bridget Jones meets Carrie Bradshaw and I really couldn't have put it better myself! Those are weighty words and hard to live up to especially when they are two of my favourite characters of all time, but Ellie really is a combo of the two. She is a character who is very easy to relate to. She won't be everyone's cup of tea, she's like that friend that you can see making some mistakes but you have tried and tried to keep them on the right path and you've just kind of given up and let them do their won thing now, a little on the annoying side! But actually she is a lot like us all!

I would say that this is a book of two halves. The first half of the book is very much pure comedy with Ellie getting herself into situations, quite a few of those involving her hilarious family mishaps or her disastrous tinder dates. The second half of the book takes a turn for the slightly more serious, but still with some serious laughs in there. It centres around Ellie sorting herself out and doing just a little bit of soul searching. The chapters of the book are also interwoven with emails from Ellie's Dad to Ellie and her sister with updates and the latest extract from the erotic novel he is writing. You know these sections are pure comedy gold, but I just love the way her Dad writes his emails, he is just such a typical Dad!

This books covers having a horrible flat with questionable flat mates, what happens when you feel like everyone around you is changing but you deny to believe that you are changing too. When you don't really know what you want to do with your life or who you want to do it with, and just how embarrassing family can be. If you've been in any of these situations and/or you've ever been a little bit drunk  or reckless with your credit card then you are going to love this book. It made me laugh out loud, I could see myself and my friends in the characters and it was fast-paced and very very relevant. Definitely another one to add to your TBR this summer!

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

Review: Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

If you could read my mind, you wouldn't be smiling.

Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off.

Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn't help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she'd be truly crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with Sam's weekly visits to her psychiatrist.

Caroline introduces Sam to Poet's Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse, and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins to feel more "normal" than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear. 

Review: I don't know why it took em so long to get round to reading this book (do I start all my reviews like that) but having loved this author's previous two novels, and read them back to back, cover to cover, I really don't know why I bought this and then just left it sitting on the shelf! I really enjoyed this read although it was one of those that was actually really different from what I expected it to be.

This book deals with the issue of OCD because our main character suffers from OCD. She has various coping strategies including a new one which she discovers over the course of this book. I thought it was really good that we got to see what every day life was like for her because of her OCD and got to see her visiting her therapist and not being able to cope in certain situations. OCD is such a dismissive term these days, often used for people who like things clean or in order and so to see how it affects someone like this was really great to read. There is also a really good author's note at the end of the book which covers the OCD storyline so I definitely recommend reading that too!

There is also some lovely romance in this novel, as I would have expected from this author and I really enjoyed this aspect of it too. I like the fact that this follows a sort of enemies to friends to more kind of trope but with a little twist on the traditional. There is also an aspect of friends to enemies here and I enjoyed watching that develop too, perhaps I'm a little sadistic in that sense!

The main storyline concerns a group of people meeting up to perform their poetry and how that helps them deal with the other issues that are going on in their complicated teenage lives. This is all pointed out to Sam through her new friend Caroline, but like lots of others in the group, there is more to Caroline than meets the eye and this provides another branch of the storyline.

There are some very real issues covered in this book and also some magical elements, as this author does so well. The balance of real and fantastical/magical is just right for me because I am not usually a fan of things being not 100% real. Overall this was a really good read and I am sure that if you pick this one up, you will enjoy meeting Sam as I did. Obviously there is the OCD aspect of the storyline to be aware of and so you should definitely bear that in mind when choosing this lovely read.

To get your copy now, click here!

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 Summer of Impossible Things by Rowan Coleman

If you could change the past, would you?

Thirty years ago, something terrible happened to Luna’s mother. Something she’s only prepared to reveal after her death.

Now Luna and her sister have a chance to go back to their mother’s birthplace and settle her affairs. But in Brooklyn they find more questions than answers, until something impossible – magical – happens to Luna, and she meets her mother as a young woman back in the summer of 1977.

At first Luna’s thinks she’s going crazy, but if she can truly travel back in time, she can change things. But in doing anything – everything – to save her mother’s life, will she have to sacrifice her own?

Review: This book is a completely different book from the one I was expecting, but it drew me in, filled me with wonder and satisfaction and left me feeling fulfilled and incredibly optimistic. I love love loved the setting of this book and purposely left it to read until I was in the area to read. I actually didn't read this book in Bay Ridge Brooklyn but read half on a flight to New York and the other half in Central Park so at least I was in the general vicinity. I haven't read many books that are set in that specific part of Brooklyn and there was the link with the film Saturday Night Fever too, which I will now have to go away and watch. 

The storyline is just so intricate and interesting. Rowan has done a great job of weaving all the plot lines together and making sure that every questions you might have as a reader is, not necessarily answered, but is addressed in some way. I have no idea how she managed to juggle exactly where and when Luna was and what she meant to people wherever she was but it is amazing to see the story unfold and things we could never possibly think of happening happen before our eyes. 

Luna was an interesting character and although she is travelling back to the place her mother and father met with her sister Pea, her sister isn't really the other main character in this book, her mother is and I just love the way this author manages to write these amazing mother daughter relationships. The relationship between the two of them is tested again and again and yet you get the impression that there is still this amazingly strong bond between the two of them. I loved watching this relationship change and develop over time and I loved Luna revisiting the person her mother once was and discovering that there was a lot to love back then too. 

There is some beautiful romance in this book and a little it of intrigue and the storyline is very well balanced. You definitely have to suspend your disbelief going into this one but I definitely recommend that you do that b y letting yourself be absorbed by the book completely, give yourself time to enjoy this book and time to be able to finish it because you are not going to be able to let yourself get away from this storyline once you get started. This book has stayed with me since I finished it and it is definitely one to read this summer. I loved this read and I loved the way the whole thing was so cleverly tied together with such an intriguing plot, realistic, relatable character and just the right amount of mystery, romance and magic. Fabulous!

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

Review: The 12 Days of Dash and Lily by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Dash and Lily have been dating for nearly a year, but when Lily’s beloved grandfather falls ill, the repercussions take their toll on everyone. Even though they are still together, somehow the magic has gone out of their relationship and it’s clear that Lily has fallen out of love with life.

Action must be taken! Dash teams up with Lily’s brother and a host of their friends, who have just twelve days to get Lily’s groove back in time for Christmas.

Review: Obviously this book is a sequel and so it is going to be hard to read without giving away any spoilers, but since the blurb of this book plainly states that Dash and Lily have been dating for nearly a year, I know I can mention that at least. For starters I have to say that it was wonderful being back in the world of Dash and Lily again. I read the two books fairly close together and would really recommend re-reading the first book in this duology before reading this one, it'll be great fun, i promise!

One of the things I loved about the first book in this series was the description of New York City. I loved being in the city with Dash and Lily and this book has exactly the same quality. Because of the wonderful writing, you can totally picture yourself wandering around Manhattan with these two, wishing that you were hanging out with them in The Strand bookstore and I think that was why I loved being back in their world so much. 

These authors have also been very clever when it comes to the character development. These two characters were so popular from their first outing, it would have been a safe choice to keep them the same and just have them go about the same kind of adventure once more. But people change. Especially people who are in the formative stages of their lives, and I loved seeing how much these characters had changed and grown. This brought up conflict in both of their lives and so made for a more interesting story and that was great, but I still love both of them!

This is definitely one of those books where you have to have read the first book in order to understand this sequel, there is just no getting around it. I really don't think that would be a problem though because both of the books in this series are wonderful reads and I'm sure that reading the two back to back would be a wonderful experience for you. I loved both these books and would definitely recommend picking up this one immediately!

To order your copy now, click here!

Review: Not Working by Lisa Owens

Now and again we all lie awake wondering what on earth we're doing with our lives . . . don't we? Claire Flannery has had more than a few sleepless nights lately. Maybe she shouldn't have walked out of her job with no idea what to do next. Maybe she should think before she speaks -- and maybe then her mother would start returning her calls. Maybe she should be spending more time going to art galleries, or reading up on current affairs, and less time in her pyjamas, entering competitions on the internet. Then again, maybe the perfect solution to life's problems only arises when you stop looking for it . . .

Review: This was an interesting read for me. Its definitely not exactly what I was expecting it to be. I was initially drawn in by the cover, you know I love a good coffee cup, and then by the title. I too am currently not working. Then I read the premise and the early praise his novel and thought, yes I will definitely like this but it didn't quite meet my expectations... A have heard a lot of people talking about the way the book is structured. Its not traditional prose and yet it isn't written in verse either. This book is written in little snippets of thought, kind of like a stream of consciousness, however each section has a heading so you know what each part is going to concern. Each section can range from one small paragraph to a few pages. I would like to be controversial and say that I liked this structure. It did make the story harder to follow but I feel like it made me identify with the character more. I felt a little like I was reading Tumblr posts or facebook updates and it really stuck a chord with me. 

Although I did feel like I could identify with the character more because of this structure, I didn't necessarily warm to her that easily. Obviously this character has chosen to leave her job, a move which I made too so I can feel what she is going through. She is also in a long term relationship and so is in the position of being the one at home while her partner goes off to work. I did think that she was somewhat self-centred though and so I found her difficult to like for those reasons. I did definitely agree with her reasons for doing most things but struggled to side with her on all things. 

There are is a range of supporting characters in this novel too. I really disliked Claire's family and her partners family too. I thought them to be seriously backward and really couldn't believe the way they were behaving sometimes. This did create drama for the storyline but I'm not sure people can be so narrow minded in this day and age. I really liked Luke, he too felt real and so I found him easy to identify with. he is not perfect at every moment throughout this story, but for a sleep-deprived trainee medic, he had a lot of patience. 

Its quite hard to sum up my thoughts on this book. I liked the premise of the story and I enjoyed the way it was written. In terms of the story arc itself and the characters involved in the story, I wasn't entirely convince and so I would say that it was a mixed bag for me. I would really like to find out if the author intended there to be a follow up to this book and that is why the story arc is the way that it is. But my best advice to you is to read it for yourself, especially if you enjoy books about women in their twenties trying to find their way in life, and see for yourself!

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

Review: I Woke Up Dead At the Mall by Judy Sheehan

When Sarah wakes up dead at the Mall of America, she learns that not only was shemurdered, her killer is still on the loose. A contemporary YA novel with a hauntingly supernatural twist that tackles some of life’s – and the afterlife’s – biggest questions.  
When you’re sixteen, you have your whole life ahead of you. Unless you’re Sarah. Not to give anything away, but . . . she’s dead. Murdered, in fact. Sarah’s murder is shocking because she couldn’t be any more average. No enemies. No risky behavior. She’s just the girl on the sidelines.

It looks like her afterlife, on the other hand, will be pretty exciting. Sarah has woken up dead at the Mall of America—where the universe sends teens who are murdered—and with the help of her death coach, she must learn to move on or she could meet a fate totally worse than death: becoming a mall walker.

As she tries to finish her unfinished business alongside her fellow dead teens, Sarah falls hard for a cute boy named Nick. And she discovers an uncanny ability to haunt the living. While she has no idea who killed her, or why, someone she loves is in grave danger. Sarah can’t lose focus or she’ll be doomed to relive her final moments again and again forever. But can she live with herself if she doesn’t make her death matter?

Review: This book was so much more than what I was expecting it to be. I originally picked this up because of my interest in the mall of American (shopping is my sport of choice, what can I say?) but this turned out to be a magical story about the afterlife and what we expect it to be versus what we actually expect it to be. I really enjoyed this aspect of the storyline, despite being someone who doesn't necessarily enjoy magical or fantastical novels. I found it to be well explained, it was all logical and made sense and therefore I could cope with the idea of viewing ones funeral or having a special floor of the mall just for the dead to roam around!

I liked getting to know the characters in this book too. We have five young people who have all been murdered and all come from New York City. In fact, they find that they all lived in the same neighbourhood as each other. Where some of them died a while ago, some of them died at virtually the same time, did they know each other in their former lives? I liked the fact that there was a bit of conflict between the characters, but also the relationships that they formed with one another. Sarah is our main character and so we see things through her. She has had it tough in life, but not as tough as some of the others and there is definitely more to her than meets the eye!

Of course I loved the setting. There is a particular scene where they go down to the aquarium and another where the ride the roller coaster and I really enjoyed reliving my trip to MOA alongside them. The description is great though, particularly the scenes in New York and so if you haven't been to either of these places, you will definitely feel at home there after reading this book!

As I say, this book isn't quite what I was expecting, but I really enjoyed what I got. Perhaps there could be further clarity on the jacket as to what to expect, but if you are ready to suspend your disbelief and you are ready for a little bit of magic, then I am sure you will enjoy this story of teens and their afterlives.

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Review: The House of New Beginnings by Lucy Diamond

Number 11, Dukes Square, looks just like the other houses on the Brighton seafront: a Regency terrace with elegant sash windows, a winding staircase, and post piled up in the hall for its tenants. It might be part of the city's history, but it's also a place of brand new beginnings.

Georgie has followed her childhood sweetheart to Brighton but is determined to carve out a career for herself in journalism. Throwing herself into the city's delights is fun and exciting, but before she knows it, she's sliding into all kinds of trouble . . .

Charlotte's in the city for a new start, hoping to keep her head down and somehow get over the heartbreaking loss she's suffered in the past. But Margot, the stylish old lady on the top floor, has other ideas. Like it or not, Charlotte must confront the outside world, and the possibilities it still holds.

A terrible revelation sent Rosa running from London to start again as a sous chef. The work is gruelling and thankless but it's a distraction at least . . . until she comes up against the stroppy teenager next door who challenges her on her lifestyle choices. What if Rosa's passion for food could lead her to more interesting places?

As the three tenants find each other, it's as if a whole new chapter of their lives has begun. The House of New Beginnings is a moving and uplifting novel from bestselling author Lucy Diamond.

Review:  I have noticed that Lucy Diamond has a trend in her books for giving characters new beginnings and so the title of her latest novel is very apt! This is a story about the tenants of a wonderfully powerful sounding house, split into flats in Brighton. I love a book set in Brighton, I think there is something truly unique about it and so I really love being transported there from time to time. Although the overall theme of this book is new beginnings, this is very definitely a book about people and very much a character driven novel. 

I really enjoyed getting to know the residents of the house of new beginnings. They have all been dealt  a tough hand in life, for many different reasons and yet they are all trying to make the best of it and trying to overcome that adversity. I listened to this on audible and so I did have a few issues with Georgie's Yorkshire accent (being Yorkshire myself) but I loved her as a character. She definitely embodies the strong Yorkshire lass and I loved the way she developed as the book went on. You can also tell that she is northern because of her ability to strike up a conversation with anyone any where!

Charlotte was an interesting character to get to know. She is the kind of person you would meet and think to be cold to begin with, but once her shell began to crack and her story began to unravel, I found a new respect for her and could definitely identify with her as much as with Georgie in this one. Rosa is definitely someone that any reader will grow to love, she has the motherly role in the house, even though she might not have met all of her neighbours, they know that too. I really liked the way she found her true calling as the book progressed and settled into her role as the glue that holds things together. 

Some of the things that are thrown at these characters are a lot to deal with, but if you think about your own group of friends, think about the things they have had to or are dealing with and you will see that a group of people such as this are likely to have an array of issues that need sorting. There is definitely something here that anyone will be able to identify with and that is what made this an entertaining read. 

I have to admit that I had a bit of trouble working out who was who in the beginning, I think this may have been easier if I was reading a physical copy of the book and not listening to an audio book. Once I worked out where everyone was coming from though, I really enjoyed the way the story was told from multiple points of view! If you are a fan of Lucy Diamond then you will definitely love her latest novel and if this is your first Lucy Diamond read then you will definitely enjoy the journey towards her very definite theme of new beginnings!

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Review: The Singles Game by Lauren Weisberger

The new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Devil Wears Prada and Revenge Wears Prada—a dishy tell-all about a beautiful tennis prodigy who, after changing coaches, suddenly makes headlines on and off the court.

Charlotte “Charlie” Silver has always been a good girl. She excelled at tennis early, coached by her father, a former player himself, and soon became one of the top juniors in the world. When she leaves UCLA—and breaks her boyfriend’s heart—to turn pro, Charlie joins the world’s best athletes who travel eleven months a year, competing without mercy for Grand Slam titles and Page Six headlines.

After Charlie suffers a disastrous loss and injury on Wimbledon’s Centre Court, she fires her longtime coach and hires Todd Feltner, a legend of the men’s tour, who is famous for grooming champions. Charlie is his first-ever female player, and he will not let her forget it. He is determined to change her good-girl image—both on the court and off—and transform her into a ruthless competitor who will not only win matches and climb the rankings, but also score magazine covers and seven-figure endorsement deals. Her not-so-secret affair with the hottest male player in the world, sexy Spaniard Marco Vallejo, has people whispering, and it seems like only a matter of time before the tabloids and gossip blogs close in on all the juicy details. Charlie’s ascension to the social throne parallels her rising rank on the women’s tour—but at a major price.

Review: This books drops you right in the middle of the action. We meet Charlie straight away and find out that she is about to go and play a match at Wimbledon, but there's a problem. This book therefore hooks you in right from the  word go and I defy anyone to be able to resist reading on after that start! I really loved the drama that this book contained, and there is a lot of it, there is never a dull moment and it makes for a real page turner because of that. IF you are familiar with this author's other books then you will know how well she writes drama but the storyline for this one has the potential to be a little duller, especially if you are not into tennis (like me) but she keeps you reading and gasping and then reading some more. 

I thought I might not be able to get along with Charlie as a character. She is young tennis superstar. I'm not that into reading about characters who are entitled in some way and I really don't know anything about tennis, but I really got to know her because she has strong morals and values and maintains strong relationships with her friends and family, despite her fame and hectic travel schedule. I rally enjoyed meeting the other characters in the book. They are all fairly extreme characters and so they were definitely easy to picture and easy to assign roles within the story. 

Obviously this story deals with tennis and I really don't know a lot about tennis and neither do I really care about it. This book, though, taught me a lot about it and about the dramas behind each and every grand slam. I didn't know I wanted to know those things about it but because it is all wrapped up so neatly within this storyline, you don't even realise you are following tennis at the same time-how great is that? This book is about so much more than tennis. It is about what happens when you grow up and change but your world doesn't. About relationships, about goals and ambitions. I love this author and so I knew I would probably like this book but I enjoyed every moment of this book and it is definitely one to add to your summer TBR!

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Review: All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner

From the author of Good in Bed, In Her Shoes and Who Do You Love comes a novel about a woman with a dark secret ...

Allison Weiss is a typical working mother, trying to balance a business, ageing parents, a demanding daughter and a marriage. But when the website she develops becomes a huge success, she finds herself challenged to the point of being completely overwhelmed. 

As she struggles to hold her life together and meet the needs of all the people around her, Allison finds that the painkillers she was prescribed for a back injury help her deal with more than just physical discomfort - they make her feel calm and get her through the increasingly hectic days. Sure, she worries that the bottles seem to empty a bit faster each week, but it's not like she's some Hollywood starlet partying all night. It's not as if she has an actual problem. 

Until she ends up in a world she never thought she'd experience outside of a movie theatre: rehab. And as Allison struggles to get her life back on track, she learns a few life lessons along the way.

Review: I've had this book for a while, but after reading Hungry Heart by this author all about her life and writing, I wanted to hear more from her and so I finally got round to picking up this one, boy am I glad that I did!

This book reminded me so much of Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes (one of my favourite authors) although it is definitely set in today's world of smart phones and aniline pharmacies and of course this book is set in the USA. I have to say that I loved the setting for this one, it encompassed everything about family life and yet had the feel of someone still trying to live a life of independence and have it all really. It really does explore the question that we all ask ourselves and are asking by others on a daily basis, can we really have it all?

Allison is a hard character to like because of her thoughts and actions and yet she is such an easy character to relate to because of those thoughts and the fact that she is trying to, and thinks she is doing, the best that she can! I really felt her pain and her struggle and could see why she was continually telling herself things that weren't true. I loved the fact that she was a blogger, that made it even easier to relate to. When you have a job like that or even just a commitment to that kind of entity, it can be really hard to switch off because you are always within reach of a computer and always connected to social media!

Obviously this storyline involves addiction, but the kind of addiction that isn't always explored in mainstream media. We often think of people who are drug addicts living and behaving like those in Trainspotting, living up to the stereotype but Allison proved that there is access to a range of different drugs in many different walks of life and I really love that Jennifer Weiner has brought this to the forefront here in this novel!

This was a really gripping read and I really found myself routing for Allison and her family. I think the issues dealt with are dealt with well and I really loved the way the book ended as well, not giving anything away of course! This was a great read and I can't wait to read more by this author!

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Review: The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love-she's lived through it twenty-six times. She crushes hard and crushes often, but always in secret. Because no matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly can't stomach the idea of rejection. So she's careful. Fat girls always have to be careful.

Then a cute new girl enters Cassie's orbit, and for the first time ever, Molly's cynical twin is a lovesick mess. Meanwhile, Molly's totally not dying of loneliness-except for the part where she is.
Luckily, Cassie's new girlfriend comes with a cute hipster-boy sidekick. Will is funny, flirtatious, and just might be perfect crush material. Maybe more than crush material. And if Molly can win him over, she'll get her first kiss and she'll get her twin back.

There's only one problem: Molly's coworker, Reid. He's an awkward Tolkien superfan, and there's absolutely no way Molly could fall for him. Right?

Review: This is such a cute and easy read and I enjoyed it so much. I loved the fact that the storyline deals with real issues that teenagers have to deal with. I remember feeling left out when my friends were in relationships. I remember counting the crushes I had had and I remember feeling like the only person in the world who looked different from other people. I can only imagine all of that must be 10 times worse when it is your twin who is counting your crushes and getting with somebody else and looks perfect. 

Then there is the fact that these twins have two Moms. Again this is something that is coming up more and more in YA fiction, and adult fiction for that matter, and I love the fact that people are getting more real about this sort of thing. I also really liked the fact that neither of the parents is evil or dead and the girls get along with their family so well. We don't always have to have conflict in that kind of way to have a good time in a book. There are also issues like getting your first job as a teenager, having your first drink and dealing with the difficulties of growing up! These are all dealt with incredibly well by Becky Albertalli in this book and were a pleasure to read. 

In terms of the characters. I really loved getting to know these sisters and their lives. I found them easy to like and easy to empathise with and I really cheered Molly on the whole way through this read. I loved getting to know their friends a family too, especially Reid. I had a real soft spot for Reid and I would dearly like to keep him for myself because he was just lovely. This book was definitely a feel-good read, it had interesting characters, a strong storyline and an interesting setting. I would definitely recommend giving this one a go, especially if you are after something optimistic to add to your TBR!

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Review: How To Make Out by Brianna Shrum

Sixteen-year-old Renley needs three thousand dollars for the math club’s trip to New York City, and she knows exactly how to get it: she’s going to start a how-to blog where people pay for answers to all of life’s questions from a “certified expert.” The only problems: 1) She doesn’t know how to do anything but long division and calculus. 2) She’s totally invisible to people at school. And not in a cool Gossip Girl kind of way.

So, she decides to learn to do . . . well . . . everything. When her anonymous blog shifts in a more scandalous direction and the questions (and money) start rolling in, she has to learn not just how to do waterfall braids and cat-eye makeup, but a few other things, like how to cure a hangover, how to flirt, and how to make out (something her very experienced, and very in-love-with-her neighbor, Drew, is more than willing to help with).

As her blog’s reputation skyrockets, so does “new and improved” Renley’s popularity. She’s not only nabbed the attention of the entire school, but also the eye of Seth Levine, the hot culinary wizard she’s admired from across the home-ec classroom all year.

Soon, caught up in the thrill of popularity both in and out of cyberspace, her secrets start to spiral, and she finds that she’s forgotten the most important how-to: how to be herself. When her online and real lives converge, Renley will have to make a choice: lose everything she loves in her new life, or everyone she loves in the life she left behind.

Review: oh this was such a cute read. I absolutely flew through this one and read it in basically one sitting, that's how much I wanted find out how things were going to unfold for Renley and her friends! This book reminded me of a lot of teen romance movies and would make a great movie itself. It is very much a coming of age and self-discovery novel and I really enjoyed watching Renley as she made her way along the steep learning curve towards not quite adulthood but away from childhood that;s for sure!

I really loved the characters in this novel. I could definitely picture where they fitted into the social hierarchy of the American High school and they definitely met a few of the stereotypes I have leaned about growing up watching these teen films in the UK. Renley was an easy character to like, even when she wasn't always making the right choices. That is because we all have our faults and I liked her better because she was fairly open about those faults, she felt bad about them and knew that she needed to speak to someone about them. 

I have to admit, I totally fell in love with bad boy Drew. I know I wasn't entirely supposed to because we also have Seth to swoon over in this book but I just loved what a decent human and what a good friend Drew was throughout this novel, I really hope I get to hear some more from him soon! April fits into the role of best friend so well. She is the slightly rebellious girl that still attends math club and still knows how to do the right thing, and therefore I could really identify with her (I'm the teacher that ran math club with the tattoos and the coloured hair) so I would really like to find out what happens to her as well!

I liked the storyline, parts of it were slightly predictable, but reassuringly so, and I really like the fact that it features a blog and someone trying to make money off of a blog too. As I say, this really was a coming of age story with some seriously romantic parts to it as well. I think that if you are a fan of contemporary/romantic fiction then you will definitely love this one and I can't wait to read more from this author soon!

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