Review: Wish You Were Here by Catherine Alliott

When Flora, James and their two teenage daughters are offered the holiday of a lifetime in a chateau in the south of France in return for one simple good deed, they jump at the chance. They exchange the confines of Clapham, the weight of the mortgage and anxieties over their future for a blissful break.

But Flora didn't anticipate a mysterious guest and a whole heap of family baggage coming too.

With James developing a schoolboy crush on a famous singer and Flora distracted by ghosts from her past, their dream holiday suddenly takes some very unexpected turns.

Review: This is the story of a fairly typical middle class family of Mum and Dad, and two teenage daughters who are getting by, just, on their salaries, with nothing very much on the horizon. Suddenly, though, things are turned upside down when they get the offer of a free holiday in a dreamy villa in the south of France in return for an act of kindness. We are transported into a world of luxurious surroundings, hot, sunny summer days and yummy food. However, all is not tranquil within the walls of the villa, as the original four are joined by extended family, partners and friends. 

The main character in this tale is Flora, who has been a restaurant reviewer for many years and is really fed up with the job. The rest of her family have had more then enough of eating out at fancy restaurants with her too. I found her rather annoying really. She had got into a bit of a rut and seemed to let her daughters, and friends even,  walk all over her. Husband James is also in a rut, having shown promise as an orthopaedic surgeon but been overtaken by younger colleagues and now stuck doing boring cases. However, it is when he helps a young girl on a plane who turns out to be the child of a famous singer that the offer of the holiday comes and the story gets started. 

The characters who join them on their holiday are quite an assortment. James' father and sisters from Scotland are an interesting trio, Flora's mum is a zany, but likeable, lady, and Flora's friend and work colleague, Lizzie, is lively too. They bring with them some additional companions making for extra storylines. The couple who look after the villa and the guests are around in the background, but have their own story as well. So, on the surface this is the tale of a family holiday in the sun, but there is mystery and romance bubbling underneath. 

Because of Flora's job and the fact that the action takes place in the French countryside, there are many descriptions of delicious-sounding meals and ingredients bought fresh from markets in quaint little towns and villages. I thought that these were well written and made me think I might like to visit this region myself.

However, I can't say that I enjoyed this story as much as I expected. It is the first I have read by Catherine Alliott, although I know that she has published many before. I found it slow to get going, and then all the action seemed to happen suddenly in the last 10% or so. Everything was tied up nicely, but at a dizzying speed. By the end, I was left with that feeling of wanting to know what happened next, but it took a lot of perseverance to get that far. 

Blog Tour! Review and Extract from The Lie by CL Taylor

 I'm very lucky to have a fab extract from this wonderful book for you today-you can also fin my review below- first here's the blurb...

I know your name’s not really Jane Hughes . . .
Jane Hughes has a loving partner, a job in an animal sanctuary and a tiny cottage in rural Wales. She’s happier than she’s ever been but her life is a lie. Jane Hughes does not really exist.

Five years earlier Jane and her then best friends went on holiday but what should have been the trip of a lifetime rapidly descended into a nightmare that claimed the lives of two of the women.

Jane has tried to put the past behind her but someone knows the truth about what happened. Someone who won’t stop until they’ve destroyed Jane and everything she loves . . .

Extract: She tucks her phone into the tiny clutch bag on the table then looks across at me. There's concern in her blue eyes, but a sliver of excitement too.

"That was Leanne. She's in that new gay club in Soho, Malice,  with Al. Al's on the hunt for Simone and her new girlfriend."

"Shit." I clutch my bag and reach round for my coat.

"You ok if we go? I know we were talking about your job and -"

"It's fine." I stand up. "Al needs us. Let's grab a cab."

***

We sit in silence as the taxi splashes through puddles and the bright lights of London's West End speed past us. The streets are unusually empty, the heavy rain forcing locals and tourists into packed pubs, the windows misty with condensation.

Daisy looks up from her phone. "You know it's the anniversary of her brother's death, don't you?"

"Al's brother?"

"Yeah. I rang her at lunchtime."

"How was she?"

"Pissed."

"Shit, at work?"

"No, skiving, she was in the pub."

"She's been doing that a lot recently."

"Yeah, to stalk Simone," Daisy says and we share a look.

It's been over a month since Al and Simone split up but Al's behaviour is becoming more and more erratic by the day. She's convinced that Simone left her because she met someone else and she's determined to find out who. She spends hours on Google, looking for 'clues' and Leanne told Daisy that she's created several false Facebook profiles to try and get access to Simone's page, or anyone she's friends with. None of us saw the split coming, not least Al who'd been planning on proposing. She'd been saving up for months for a ring and a safari in Kenya so she could propose on an elephant ride - Simone's favourite animal.

"Here we are ladies," the cab driver says over his shoulder as we pull up outside the neon pink Malice sign.

Daisy pokes a tenner through the plastic partition then opens the car door. "Let's go and get Al."

***

"Excuse me, darling. Thank you. Excuse me." Daisy elbows her way through thethrong of bodies clogging up the stairs and I follow in her wake. We've already squeezed our way through the dance floor on the ground floor in search of Leanne and Al but there was no sign of them. No sign of Simone either.

"Loos!" Daisy twists back and waves her mobile phone at me as she reaches the top of the stairs then takes a left.

I struggle to push my way through the huge crowd of women drinking beer and hanging out outside the women's loos but finally make my way inside.

"Oi!" A large woman wearing a Superdry T-shirt and oversized jeans shoots out a tattooed arm to bar my way as I attempt to squeeze past her. "There's a queue."

"Sorry, I'm just looking for a friend."

"Emma, in here!" A cubicle door swings out and Daisy waves at me through the gap. She pulls an apologetic face at the woman in the queue. "Sorry, we're dealing with a crisis in here."

"Bloody lesbians," the woman says, "always a melodrama."

***

There's no space for me to squeeze inside the cubicle so I hover outside and poke my head around the door. Al is sitting on the loo with her head in her hands. Leanne and Daisy are pressed up against the walls either side of her. Every couple of seconds pumping house music floods the small space as women file in and out of the toilet, grumbling as they squeeze past me to an empty cubicle.

"Al, sweetie," Daisy hitches up her dress and squats down next to her. "Let's get you home."

Al shakes her head. The hems of her oversized jeans are wet with rainwater and the laces of one of her trainers are untied. There's cellophane poking out from beneath the arm of her T-shirt. She's had another tattoo but I can't make out what it is.

Leanne catches my eye, as though noticing me for the first time. She's dyed her fringe pink since the last time I saw her. Her sharp black bob has always looked a bit severe but, with the pink streak and her new thick-rimmed black 'geek' specs dominating her thin face she looks a bit like she's wearing a motorbike helmet.

She shrugs and angles her arm towards me so I can read the time on her Mickey Mouse watch. It's midnight. She flashes her fingers at me then holds up two more. Shit, Al's been drinking for twelve hours.

Review: wow, another hit from this fab author, she really knows how to keep her readers gripped! I was intrigued by the premise behind this one because I knew that Cally Taylor had been doing research into cults and things like that so I couldn't wait to get reading! The book starts of fairly slowly but the big name change reveal happens quickly and everything kind of speeds up from there picking up more and more pace as it gets going, turning into something that nobody is going to be able to put down-a lot like her previous novel-The Accident, this book was just as compelling. 

I thought Jane/Emma was a really interesting character because she was the fairly normal one of the group. There was nothing necessarily remarkable about her and so she is a really good character to be leading this tale because she stands out against the back drop of wild child mates, obsessive men and women at the retreat and someone sending her threatening notes/messages in her life now as Jane. She was a pretty savvy individual and so I didn't have to spend to much of this book shouting at her to wake up and realise what was going on like I thought I might have to! The other characters in the book are all fun to read about, I really like Janes love interest-Will (and not just because he is a teacher). He is also a sensible individual and so he seems to calm Jane/Emma down, a good thing in a book like this! 

This book is split between present day and five years ago and so you build up a picture of what has gone on before as the book moves on, something which I think gave the book depth rather than just laying it out for you chapter by chapter. Because it jumps between the two time periods, we get to know the person that Emma/Jane became and what is behind her new life, where she has come from. There is an interesting contrast between the company she kept and the company she keeps now and also between her dependence on her friends rather than dependence on herself in the past/present, I really liked this. 

There were a lot of moments in the book that I didn't see coming. It did make me pretty paranoid as to whether I had locked the back door or not when I was reading this alone in my house but don't let that put you off. This is an edge of your seat type of affair but doesn't deal with anything improbable, these events could have happened to you or me and you will probably question how well you know the people in your workplace after reading this-if you weren't already. If you loved The Accident you definitely need to read this right now but you don't have to have read one to enjoy the other so I suggest either way you get some CL Taylor and a The Lie in your life right now! 

Giveaway winners!

So I have two giveaways to announce the winner of today. Since nobody claimed my fabulous CL Taylor prize I decided to do a redraw-the winner has had 2 weeks to claim so it's only fair!

I put the names back into a spinner...

Gave it a spin...

And the winner was...

So drop me an email or a DM and I'll get them posted out to you ASAP! 

And now my fabulous Tracy Bloom giveaway. I'd love to win this one...

Just 2 names to spin...

And the winner is...

Again, send me a message with your details & a book will be winging it's way to you soon!

Thanks to all who entered!

Review: Paris For One by Jojo Moyes

Bestselling author Jojo Moyes brings us a charming and heart-warming short story in association with Quick Reads.

Nell is twenty-six and has never been to Paris. She has never even been on a weekend away with her boyfriend. Everyone knows she is just not the adventurous type.

But, when her boyfriend doesn't turn up for their romantic mini-break, Nell has the chance to prove everyone wrong.

Alone in Paris, Nell meets the mysterious moped-riding Fabien and his group of carefree friends. Could this turn out to be the most adventurous weekend of her life?



Review: Oh what a fab fab read! This book may come in a small package but it certainly packs a massive punch. I had no expectations going into this book, which i think is the best way sometimes don't you? I sat down with a glass of wine and this in my hand and i didn't get up until i had finished both. (This is the perfect length of book for a large glass of red by the way). This book has all the feels. I loved Nell, she really blossomed over the 95 pages of this cute little novella and i had completely fallen in love with her by the end. Her confidence and self-belief grew and she learned how to have fun and be spontaneous.

This book has romance and laughs, a little bit of sorrow and the beautifully described city of Paris. I loved the descriptions of zooming around Paris on a moped, no detail is left out , despite the short length of this novella. The wine and the coffee sounded amazing so i really do defy you not to at least want a croissant whilst reading this delightful little offering. There were also parts which made me laugh, Nell's friends and her American nemesis provide the laughs in spades and along with the aw factor, the writing style was wholly satisfying|!

There are two possible suitors for Nell's heart and the French one of those two will definitely melt your own heart and he's a writer too. They've both been hurt and so you know that makes for the best kind of will they won't they situation. because Nell is only in Paris for a couple of nights, her trip is a short as the book and so you are definitely left wanting more. This ends on a delightful cliffhanger and i so so want to find out from Jojo Moyes exactly what happen next...like now!

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I Want To Read in May

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!

So last month I took part in paperback Month. This was a great way to focus my reading and I felt good when I had achieved one of my goals so I'm not going to do the top ten Tuesday I'm meant to do this week, I'm swapping it for one in two weeks when we have a freebie topic. Instead, I'm going to put down some of the books I'm dying to read in May in the hope that I'll get round to reading them and to focus my reading over what is a very busy month for me. 

1. Always the Bridesmaid by Lindsey Kelk-I own this, I'm on it!

2. We Are All Made of Stars by Rowan Coleman-so excited about this one!

3. Resistance is Futile by Jenny Colgan-this is out mid-May and I love a Jenny Colgan Novel!

4. Summer at the Beach Street Cafe by Jenny Colgan-I'm part way through this and i figure I ought to finish this before starting the next Jenny Colgan novel!

5. The Girl From Nowhere by Dorothy Koomson-also partway through reading this so I'd really like to get it finished. 

6. Paper Towns by John Green-I need to read this before the movie comes out (I know We've got a longer wait in the UK but still..)

7. Will Grayson Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green-another one that's been on my TBR for AGES!

8. Me, Earl and the Dying Girl. This was one I thought I might get round to reading during the 24 Hour readathon but I didn't. Again there is a film coming out and I want to read it before it comes out!

9. This Book is Gay by James Dawson. I just bought this and so I'd love to be able to just pick it up and work my way through it this month!

10. The year of Taking Chances by Lucy Diamond. I bought this book when it first came out and so I need to get round to reading it finally. This was on my list for paperback month and I just didn't manage to get to it because of review books-ho hum!

So we'll see how I get on with this list. I'm desperate to read all of these so it would be good to check back at the end of the month and see how I've got on!

Paperback April-Wrap Up!

Thanks so much to Sophie and Suze for hosting paperback month. I really enjoyed being given the chance to read some of the paperbacks that were on my shelf. It was fortunate that this month fell in the school holidays as well because I read the majority of the books during that time. As you'll be able to see from the difference between this post and the mid point post, there's not much difference. This gives you an insight into my reading habits though-its a bit of a binge reading lifestyle! However I did do a 24 hour readathon this weekend where I read one whole paperback as well as finishing one ebook and one audiobook.

I'm afraid that when term is really busy and my eyes don't really want to open, then audiobooks are the only saviour for me! But here's what I managed to read. I'll include everything I read including non-paperbacks in the name of honesty!

Paperbacks

Ebooks

Audiobooks

Paperbacks I'm currently reading...

So that was 7 paperbacks altogether 5 audiobooks and 3 ebooks so I have a paperback majority which i think is awesome! I'm also really pleased with the total for the month. I did quite a lot of driving in the school holidays so that's probably more audiobooks that usual (I normally do one a week) but I've got a trip back up north this weekend so I'll probably finish my current audiobook listen which is this:

Thanks again to these fabulous bloggers for hosting-now I just need to decide what I'm going to focus on in May. It's a busy work month so just getting through a few of my review copies/NetGalley books would be terrific, I'm not expecting to be able to read anywhere near as many books as in April-somebody pass the novellas!

Review: The Cake Shop in The Garden by Carole Matthews

Fay Merryweather runs her cake shop from her beautiful garden. She whips up airy sponges and scrumptious scones, while her customers enjoy the lovely blossoms and gorgeous blooms. Looking after the cake shop, the garden and her cantankerous mother means Fay is always busy but she accepts her responsibilities because if she doesn't do all this, who will?

Then Danny Wilde walks into her life and makes Fay question every decision she's ever made.

When a sudden tragedy strikes, Fay's entire world is thrown off balance even further and she doesn't know which way to turn. Can Fay find the strength to make a life-changing decision - even if it means giving up the thing she loves the most? Life, love and family are about to collide in The Cake Shop in the Garden.

Review: I loved the premise behind this book, the story behind a little cake shop and romance of the canal and then of course there's the fact that the main character is called Miss Merryweather (great name) but I have to admit i found this novel a little tough going in the beginning and so a little slow to get into. It certainly picked up speed as it went along and was racing towards the finish line by the end, drama unfolding left right and centre. 

This is my first Carole Matthew book. I know that is rather shameful given my penchant for rom coms, but i have to say-she knows how to write a good true-to-life character. I loved the naivety that Fay Merryweather has and yet her ability to stay positive even when faced with the most dire consequences. Danny Wilde is written as the biggest hunk ever and Fay's boyfriend Anthony is such a bore it is untrue. Then there were the characters I didn't like. I wasn't a fan of Fay's family at all-I felt a bit like booking them every time they entered a scene. But I've always said that if a writer can get me hating a character, then they've done an excellent job of evoking strong feelings in me!

Whilst this may seem like an ordinary little cake shop and therefore a completely harmless novel-as I've already mentioned, drama unfold left right and centre as the book goes on. We have money issues, fidelity issues, health issues and there's the canal show as well! I felt sorry for Fay, the host of things that she had to deal with. Although I was shouting at her at points because of her naivety and inability to see the obvious in things, I was rooting for her success right until the end. 

The ending of this book was entirely satisfying, everyone got what they deserved in my eyes and people turned out not to quite be the people they may have seemed, something which is always exciting at the end of a novel! This is definitely a summer read, I don't think I'd like to be dreaming of slices of cake in the garden in the depths of winter or on a miserable autumn day, so I suggest you pick this book up to take on holiday with you or to read over the summer with a glass of Pimms!