Movie Review: Morbius, what DID Marvel do with the Ending of This Movie?

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Movie Review: The Phantom of The Open (Why WAS the Entire Cinema Laughing at this Film?)

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Guest Review: The Cafe at Marigold Marina by Tilly Tennant

Welcome to the café on Marigold Marina, where the smell of freshly baked cakes fills the air, the boats bob merrily in the mellow evening sun and an unexpected meeting means the chance to love again…

When Rosie inherits the café on Marigold Marina after her husband’s tragic death, she is determined to pour her heart into his dream. Nine months later, as she serves coffee and cakes to customers, she is all smiles and laughter. But when the sunshine-yellow doors of the café are closed, she allows her heart to break all over again.

Rosie doesn’t have much room in her life for anything but the café. But when Kit, the owner of a bookshop barge, starts to come by regularly for lunch, she finds it difficult to ignore his dark eyes, dishevelled curls and warm smile. As the pair grow closer, and Kit teaches Rosie how to swim in the sparkling marina waters, Rosie begins to hope that she might get a second chance at happiness.

But just as she is letting herself open her heart for a second time, she discovers the shocking secret that the husband she loved for so many years kept hidden from her. And when Kit disappears when she needs him the most, she closes her café for good and leaves the marina. But has she cut herself off too quickly? Will moving away allow her to move on? Or can she only find true happiness if she learns to trust again?

Review: Tilly Tennant is one of my must-read authors, so I was keen to get my hands on her new book asap. It sounded like I was really going to love it with its riverside setting and cafe full of gorgeous offerings. Unusually, I found it took me a while to get into this story, but once hooked I was eager to follow the fortunes of its characters.

The central character in the story is recently-widowed Rosie. She finds herself living above the cafe at Marigold Marina, a river basin near to the town of Stratford-upon-Avon. Renovating the rundown cafe and opening it once again was her husband, Fergus’s, dream and she is doing her best to succeed in his memory. When it is up and running again, Rosie finds she has little time for anything else, but a distraction comes along in the shape of Kit, who owns a book barge which he ties up nearby, and his sister Tabitha, who agrees to help in the cafe. Just as Rosie is beginning to believe that she might find happiness again, she learns a shocking secret that rocks her whole world and makes her want to turn and flee. She is faced with a terrible dilemma - should she give up all that she has achieved or should she stay at Marigold Marina and perhaps find love once more?

Although I, personally, found it took me longer than I expected to get into this book, I was glad that I did and can recommend it to other readers. It has such a lovely setting right on the river and I could certainly envy Rosie waking up to that view every morning. Rosie herself was an interesting character; on one hand strong and determined in relation to her business but incredibly naive in other ways, particularly in respect to the qualities of her late husband. I certainly didn’t like the sound of Fergus. Most of the other characters at the marina were warm and welcoming, in particular Kit and his sister. I would love to catch up with them all and find out what transpired in their lives - surely the sign of a good book.

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

March Reading Wrap Up-Which Audiobooks Did I Manage To Read This Month?

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Guest Review: Spring Tides at the Starfish Cafe by Jessica Redland

Welcome back to the Starfish Café - where you will find stunning views, delicious food and lifelong friendships.

A new season...

As winter turns to spring, Hollie - owner of The Starfish Café - is feeling content as she settles into her new life with her loving boyfriend, Jake, and their adorable dog Pickle.

But when an unwelcome visitor threatens the future of her café, Hollie must stay strong to protect her family's legacy...

A leap of faith...

Emerging from an unhappy relationship, Tori finds herself with nowhere to stay and nobody to talk to. The long-hidden secrets of her past weigh heavily on her until a chance encounter with Finley, struggling to come to terms with his own secrets, provides an opportunity to open up.

Can she find the strength to stop hiding from her past and face up to her family? Especially when that would mean letting her guard down and learning to trust again...

A fresh start...?

Little do Hollie and Tori know that their lives are about to collide at The Starfish Café and they may be able to help each other with a fresh start. After all, with good friends in your life, nothing is impossible...

Review: This is the second book in the Starfish Cafe series, following on from Snowflakes Over the Starfish Cafe. In common with many of Jessica Redland’s books, the story is set on the Yorkshire coast, in and around the fictional seaside town of Whitsborough Bay. There are many recurring characters in her books, which give them a warm feel that I very much enjoy. This book begins with a list of characters returning from the last book in the series, with details of their places in the story. It could be read as a standalone, but I feel it would be much better to read the books one after the other as the storylines are very much interlinked. 

In this book, the author continues the story of Hollie and Jake. Hollie owns and manages the Starfish Cafe in addition to running a craft business and training with the RNLI. Jake is a nurse at the local hospital, aspiring photographer and RNLI crew member. After an emotional start, they are now happy with their life together. However, their peaceful existence is suddenly threatened by an unscrupulous local businessman who it seems will go to any lengths to buy the cafe. In the meantime, Hollie has met and befriended a new customer, interior designer Tori, who has her own troubles with a relationship that has turned sour and family problems. However, when Tori meets Jake’s friend Finley, also emerging from a failed romantic partnership, it seems that they may be able to help each other. 

I really enjoyed this continuing saga of the Starfish Cafe and the people involved with the business  It was great to catch up with Hollie and Jake and find out how their relationship had developed. They are both such likeable characters who are bound to have any reader cheering them on to succeed. The introduction of a dangerous man who is bent on having the cafe for himself gave the story an unusually edgy feel and had me, along with Hollie and Jake, trying to work out his motive. I found myself worried about just how far he would go before he was stopped. Once again, the wonderful community spirit of Whitsborough Bay shone through as friends rallied around to help. I was intrigued by Tori’s story; she is from a very unorthodox family to say the least and has fought hard to establish her own identity. I am looking forward to discovering if there is more about her and Finley in the next book in the series. I can recommend this series of books to other readers; it would be a marvellous introduction for those unfamiliar with Jessica Redland’s work.  

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

Movie Review: Is Turning Red Really As Contraversial as Everyone is Making it Out to Be?

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April 2022 TBR: New Releases and Other Audiobooks to Read!

 Yes we're still making TBRs even though my reading is just going nowhere right now. I'm not keeping up to date on Goodreads and my Netgalley shelves are screaming at me!

So let's talk April releases. I have 2 weeks off from school so I should get some reading time but I am moving during those 2 weeks so whilst I can have an audiobook on whilst unpacking on my own, if there is someone else around, I'm not going to be able to do that-ho hum it should still be better than March's reading right? Right?!

Let's break this down into some new releases and some other books leftover from March or still sitting unlistened to on my library audiobook shelves...

April Releases

14th April

14th April

May Releases

5th May

12th May

Other Audiobooks