Review: The Vintage Guide To Love and Romance

Jessica Beam is a girl who knows how to party. Only lately she's been forgetting to turn up for work on time. Or in clean clothes. Down on her luck, out of a job and homeless, Jess seeks the help of her long-lost grandmother.

Things aren't going well for Matilda Beam, either. Her 1950s Good Woman guide books are out of print, her mortgage repayments are staggering and her granddaughter wears neon Wonderbras!

When a lifeline from a London publisher arrives, the pair have an opportunity to secure the roof over their heads – by invigorating the Good Woman guides and transforming modern, rebellious Jess into a demure vintage lady.

The true test of their make-over will be to capture the heart of notorious London playboy Leo Frost and prove that Matilda’s guides still work. It's going to take commitment, nerves of steel and one seriously pointy bra to pull this off... 

Review: oh I loved this book so much it is going to be so so hard to review! Firstly this books was everything I hoped it would be. It is classic feel-good chick lit with some really really funny moments, a strong female lead, some real old-school family values and a twisty turns love story! Of course there is a happy ending which will leave you feeling as if you've just finished that delicious last bite of pudding at the end of your roast dinner and now you just want to lie back happy and content. 

Let's start with those fabulous characters. I loved Jess. I could really relate to her just wanting to have a good time and feeling in no hurry to settle down and be sensible. She's a blogger too (YEY!) so that's an awesome addition to her portfolio. She knows what she wants and she is sure she is right about all her decision until fate steps in her way and she is suddenly thrown into a new situation with new people and a fabulous new vintage take on life! Matilda beam is another strong-willed woman and you know when these two get together, that is going to make for some fabulous reading! 

The supporting characters in this novel also make for some fun reading. We have a couple of love interests (of course) but these are not the main focus of the story. Best friend summer turns out to be a bit of a shady character, I can just imagine her on You Tube with the wonderfully named kitten, Mr Belding. And then we have Peach. She is such a fun character, I defy anyone not to fall in love with her. She definitely needs a spin off book all to herself because she will kill it! 

This book is set between Manchester and London and the two cities deep it beautifully to two sides to Jess's life. The descriptions of her London life were very relatable and Matilda beams apartment in London sounds amazing! The whole story was just lovely the whole way through. There is a nice chunky first act with lots of funny moments and some life changing stuff for Jess and then from there we really get into the vintage section, the clothes, the manners, the love and romance! There are some real contrasts to the vintage guide morals with some casual sex, lots of swearing and some excellent hashtags and Facebook posts. The whole storyline is interwoven with extracts from Jess's mum (Rose) diary, very apt because of course, she was Matilda's daughter so it brings the whole thing full circle. 

I think one of my favourite things about this book is that Kirsty Greenwood puts into writing what so many of us are thinking but don't have the balls to say out loud. Because of this, The Vintage Guide to Love and Romance was a fun easy read with some very real messages and definitely a storyline to get your teeth into. If you're looking for something to really get you excited then this is the book for you. With guaranteed laughs and some characters you will want to call friends, this should definitely be your next good read! 

Top Ten Tuesday: Characters I'd Like To Check In With 7/4/15

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists over there at The Broke and the Bookish. I'd love to share my lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

I'm so glad that we have this top ten Tuesday today because there are always characters I'd really like to know what happened to. Often these are secondary characters as well so a spin off book totally wouldn't be out of the question! 

1. First of all one I always have on these lists, Dave from The Greatest Love Story of all Time by Lucy Robinson-just love Dave, want to meet him in real life! 

2. I just want to catch up with ALL the characters from Three a Amazing Things About You by Jill Mansell because I just loved them all! 

3. Marnie from I'll Take New York and Fairytale of New York by Miranda Dickinson. I loved this character and although she does pop up in I'll Take New York, I'd love to hear more from her! 

4. Anna's sister in Here's Looking at You by Mhairi Mcfarlane 

5. Jenny Lopez from the I Heart Series by Lindsey Kelk.  Now I know she has had her own spin off books but I always love hearing things from Jenny's perspective too! 

6. Jessica Beam from this beauty by Kirsty Greenwood. Now I know that I only just finished this one but already I want to read more about Jessica and her exploits-like now please! 

7. Suze from the Shopahoic series by Sophie Kinsella. I love Suze and she gets to appear in all the shopaholic books but I'd love to hear how she got on with her life and how she felt about getting married and having children and stuff-it's not too much to ask right?

8. Anna from Anna and the French Kiss. I want to know what happens to Anna after she grows up and how she gets on with her life. I think Stephanie Perkins should definitely give us a catch up with Anna soon! 

9. Nick from Geek Girl by Holly Smale. I know we hear quite a lot about Nick in this series but I'd really like something written from his point of view, I always love hearing the guy's point of view! 

10. Nell from Take A Look At Me Now. I know I've already had Miranda Dickinson on my list but that must just mean that she writes characters I need to see again! I'd love to hear about what Nell is getting up to now...

There's my list, sorry it's up a little late this week but I've been treating myself to a spa day instead of blogging but I still wanted to post this list as I'd finished it...

Guest Post by Elle Field-author of Lost

Today I am very lucky to have the lovely Elle Field on the blog. Her newest release Lost is out on Tuesday 7th April and she has very kindly agreed to write a post all about it here on the blog! I think you'll agree that the cover is absolutely lush and so perfect for this time of year (when the sun is actually shining). Click down to the bottom of the post to find the links of where to buy Lost and where to follow Elle.

And they both lived happily ever after. 

"If this were a feel-good movie or a book, he would turn and tell me that I deserve to come along with him too. We’d fly off into the sunset and this would be the start of us falling madly in love... This is not a feel-good movie or book."

Despite Geli’s thoughts, the lead character in my second book, Geli Voyante’s Hot or Not, she does, of course, get a happy ending. It’s what happens in chick lit books, romcoms, or whatever label you choose to call this genre. The heroine (typically) always gets that happily ever after. It's a given that Cinderella will eventually marry Prince Charming, that Becky Bloomwood will marry Luke in the Shopaholic series. It’s their fictional right, even if in real life we don't always get a fairytale ending. 

Geli Voyante's Hot or Not didn’t always end this way though. Right up until the very last minute the book ended with Geli sat on her own, pondering her future. She didn’t get the man, and she was OK with that. It wasn’t the feel-good movie or book she compared her situation with, but it was a lot more realistic and in keeping with everyday life.  

My new book, Lost, which is the follow-up to Kept and the second book in the Arielle Lockley series, doesn’t have the ending readers will be expecting. This time though, I’m sticking firm and won’t relent and change it at the twelfth hour. It might be a bit of a gamble since the expectation is there to tie up the rough loose ends and make the ending of the book shiny and smooth, but it's one I'm willing to take because it makes Arielle’s journey not only stronger, but it makes it more meaningful.  

(OK, the follow-up to Lost is called Found so there’s a glimmer of hope that things might work out for Arielle in the third book... maybe! I'm not going to spoil the rest of the series.) 

I adore the genre I write, but sometimes I think it’s more than OK for a character to get her happy ending on her own – for her (or him) to take charge of the situation and realise that she’s better off, for now, concentrating on her own happy ending.

What do you think? Do you prefer a happy ending in books, or are you all for a more realistic one? 

About Lost 

"I'm starting to realise that age is just a number, but Tabitha pointed out I'm only saying that because I'm twenty-five, engaged, and have my life together. (Touch wood things stay that way.)"

Arielle is back! OK, she's not on her way to becoming the next Coco Chanel, her childhood dream, but she is one way step closer to running her very own shop with business partner Felicity.

She's also planning her perfect romantic wedding to fiancé, Piers, and Arielle is starting to think that she's finally found her place in the world... Of course life is never that straightforward. 

With a new-found foe interfering with her shop decisions, not to mention haughty wedding planners and loved ones facing personal struggles, will Arielle figure out what's important before all is lost?

 

Pre-order on Kindle now: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-Arielle-Lockley-Book-2-ebook/dp/B00U2X7E4A If you’ve not yet read Kept, the first book in the Arielle Lockley series, buy it here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kept-ebook/dp/B00CHCOO7E/ 

About Elle 

Elle Field lives in London with her boyfriend and their cat. She enjoys exploring new places, watching musicals on the West End, and eating her way around London’s culinary delights.

Her first novel Kept was released in April 2013; Geli Voyante’s Hot or Not followed in October 2013. The sequel to Kept, Lost, will be published on April 7th, 2015, and is available to pre-order now. Look out for the final book in the Arielle Lockley series, Found, towards the end of the year. 

 

Links 

Kept: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kept-Elle-Field-ebook/dp/B00CHCOO7E/ 

Geli Voyante’s Hot or Not: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Geli-Voyantes-Hot-Not-ebook/dp/B00FY12QUM/ 

Lost: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-Arielle-Lockley-Book-2-ebook/dp/B00U2X7E4A/ 

Blog: http://www.ellefield.co.uk 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ellefie 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ellefieldauthor 

Letterbox Love #6

Welcome to Letterbox Love, this is a UK meme, hosted by the lovely Lynsey at Narratively Speaking and inspired by The Story Siren's In My Mailbox. This post is a means by which to highlight the books we get in the post and beyond, and especially to bring attention to those books which may be sat on our shelves for a little while yet that we love all the same.

It's been a couple of weeks since I posted a book haul so I've done pretty well really!

I was lucky enough to win a couple of books from harper last week. They included The 3rd Woman by Johnathan Freedland and The Golden Age Of Murder by Martin Edwards.

This week I went to an event with Girl on The Train author Paula Hawkins hosted by Chorleywood Bookshop. I got myself a copy of the hardback and she was lovely enough to sign it for me!

Last week I went to ANOTHER author event-Literati at The Grosovner House Hotel with Jane Thynne-I got a copy of the book & again, she was lovely and signed it for me! 

I was also lucky enough to receive a gorgeous finished copy of the Vintage Guide To Love and Romance which is out this week! It's beautiful & I'm really gutted I can't go to the launch!

Thanks to all the lovely people who sent me books over the past couple of weeks and thanks to the lovely authors for signing them! I'm in holiday this week so hopefully lots of time for reading but also possibly lots of time for buying books! 

Paula Hawkins Girl On The Train Event at Chorleywood Bookshop

On Monday I attended another event held by the wonderful Chorleywood bookshop. An evening with Girl on The Train Author Paula Hawkins. She was all set to be interviewed by her publicist, the fabulous Alison Barrow. It was really great to meet her as well because I've followed her on twitter for soooo long! 

Before the interview, Paula read us an extract from her book, which has now sold 2million copies! It was hard for her to pick an extract from the book without giving away any spoilers, if you've read the book, I'm sure you'll know why! 

Then Alison began the interview with her. She talked about whether it feels real that two million people have bought her book, how her ideas are generated and what her writing process is. Paula has a study that she writes in and she has to shut herself away in perfect silence and is very disciplined bat how she writes. She always knew how this book was going to end but no, there are not any plans for a sequel! Although Paula has written other books under the name Amy Silver, she much prefers this writing genre. On the subject of reviews, she says she doesn't torture herself but trawling the amazon or Goodreads reviews at all-that's discipline for you! 

When the interview was over, there was a chance for other people to ask questions and then we could go and get our beautiful hardback copies signed by her. I read this book on my kindle and so I am pleased to own a hardcover copy now, especially a signed one. 

It was a lovely evening and the venue was perfect for what was happening. It was great to hear Paul talk and also to meet her and thanks to Alison Barrow for making sure all MY questions I had were asked during her interview-it was like she had read my mind! Thanks again to Chorleywood bookshop-I can't wait for the next event! 

Review: The Duff by Kody Keplinger

Today I am going to review The Duff. The film is out in cinemas in the UK next week and I went to see a special preview this Tuesday. I will be doing a book vs film comparison on the blog soon but to celebrate the release of the film, here's my review of the book...

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is smart, cynical, loyal - and well aware that she's not the hot one in her group of friends. But when high-school jock and all round moron Wesley Rush tells her she's a DUFF - a Designated, Ugly Fat Friend - Bianca does not the see funny side. She may not be a beauty but she'd never stoop so low as to go anywhere near the likes of Wesley ... Or would she? Bianca is about to find out that attraction defies looks and that sometimes your sworn enemies can become your best friends ...

With a wry and tell-it-like-it-is voice, New York Times Bestselling novel The Duff is a witty and poignant story of a teenager struggling with the rules of high school attraction, along with the breaking down of her relationships with family and friends. It is a novel about what it means to be sexy, in a world where we feel we have to be perfect!

Review: Ok so I'm going to have to admit that I really wasn't terribly into this book in the first few pages, now usually that spells doom for me and not really enjoying the book, but as the story went on, I became more and more invested in the story and sat reading a great chunk of this all in one sitting! I laughed, I gasped, i even went oooo in a few places. i was a little shocked that there was so much sex and swearing in a YA book but reading it as an adult it didn't really bother me.  can't believe how young this author is either-am seriously jealous that such talent can be exhibited at such a young age-I need to get a move on clearly!

I really liked the characters in this book, in that they felt pretty real to me. Sometimes I didn't like the fact that they were such typical teenagers and therefore somewhat whiny and naive but then I always take against teenagers in books for that reasons so I'm totally not judging! Bianca was the least whiny of the bunch and so it was good that she was the main character. She seems strong on the outside, but many of her actions in this book are done through insecurity and through wanting to try and find herself or better herself and so she really isn't as strong as she makes out. She is practical though and understands what real life is like and so I liked her for that. 

The makes characters in the book are interesting and are kind of like your typical Jocks., I was, of course rooting for Bianca to get with one male character in partciular all the way through the book, I won't give the game away and tell you which one. The high school setting is typical of YA but I like the family aspect of this book too and theme of strong friendships throughout. 

Overall this book was a lot of fun. I think the reason I didn't connect with it straight away was that it felt it went a little too quickly in the beginning but as the story progressed, things slowed down and we were able to see the characters and the storyline in its fullest form and really explore what was going on. I really enjoyed the book and found it to be a really quick read. Its a fun read but i would definitely say that its something for older teens because of the sex, the swearing and the exploration of alcoholism. 

Review: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Sparks are igniting.
Flames are spreading.
And the Capitol wants revenge.

Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol - a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

In Catching Fire, the second novel in the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before...and surprising readers at every turn.

Review: Wow, this was such a gripping read. Like the first hunger games, I listened to this one on audiobook and it proved to be an excellent listen. I have to say, the best part of this book for me was the ending, so dramatic and such a cliffhanger-I had to start the third in this trilogy literally the moment I finished this second installment! 

I loved catching up with Katniss and Peeta, it was great to get back in with these characters. There really is a power struggled between these two as to who is on top, who is the more dominant force and it really carries on in this novel. Obviously the pair are linked and have to prove themselves as a couple but this seems harder than it should be. There are twists and turns a plenty for this pair and I love that Suzanne Collins made sure that it wasn't plain sailing for our hero and Heroine. Some of the games makers and the political figures play a bigger part in this story and that really gives you more of an insight into the world of the Hunger Games and the society that means they have to take place. 

The ogre and bloodshed was just a prevalent in this book than in the original novel, there are definitely some  moments that will gross you out and some moments where you are gunnery terrier the whole things is goingt no go up in flames. It was a truly satisfying ending following a truly satisfying read. It will get your adrenaline pumping and make sure that you really don't want to stick around to see the under games actually take place!