Review: His Other Life by Beth Thomas

He was hiding a terrible secret...

Grace’s new husband Adam seems like the perfect package. Good looking, great job, completely charming – almost too good to be true...

So when Adam suddenly disappears from Grace’s life, she is left bewildered and heartbroken. And with a lot of unanswered questions.

As she tries desperately to find him, Grace opens a Pandora’s Box of secrets and lies – and starts to learn that Adam wasn't so perfect after all.

What shameful secrets was her husband hiding? Is Grace in danger? And can she survive the truth? However terrible it may be...

Review: this book was totally not what I was expecting. From the cover this looks like a kind of typical women's fiction novel but it is something so much darker and more mysterious than that with the wonderful romance of a women's fiction novel at its heart! The storyline overall was fast-paced, twisty and packs a real punch. There is a definite element of mystery there which normally I'm not a massive fan of but because I felt so invested in the characters, I really enjoyed! The ups and downs were really quite unexpected and the amount that happens over such a short time frame is seriously impressive!

The characters themselves are interesting. Grace, our lovely female protagonist is a naive kind of person with plenty of redeeming qualities but I did sometimes want to grab her and shake her for naivety and I did find it a little unbelievable that she really did know so little about the world. She seems to have buried her head in the sand for several years though because of the circumstances she is in and so she can definitely be forgiven that! I have to say, I loved Grace's best friend, Ginger. She was a real treat to read and so unpredictable, you never knew what she was going to say or do next. 

Adam is definitely the villain of the story and I hated him from the word go,. He is someone that it is entertaining to hate through and I really wanted to shout at him as well as Grace for being so controlling and manipulative. Without all of that though, the story wouldn't have been what it is, it is very much a character driven novel!

Its pretty hard to write any concluding remarks about the book without giving any spoilers. I really liked the ending and the loved the romance thread running through the novel the whole time so so much. Some of the twists and turns were slightly unbelievable but I really felt like I was going through this ordeal the whole time with Grace and so therefore I was truly invested in the story. Because of the fast-paced thriller aspect of this novel I found it really hard to put down and I think this would be a great introduction to the world of suspense or thriller novels for those among us who are usually women's fiction fans in the first instance!

Books and the City Fabulous Blogger Party

Yesterday was my second Blogaversary and rather than celebrating it here on the blog I was lucky enough to be invited to a fabulous book-filled evening along at Books and The City headquarters and got to hang out with some fantastic bookish people as well as some amazing authors. This was all in a room filled with stunning books what more could a blogger ask for?

As always Books and the City were incredibly generous with their goody bags and the most exciting thing for me was tht they contained this chapter sampler anthology extraordinaire which is filled with samples from the gorgeous authors who were at the event! 

First up was the gorgeous Jane Costello who's New novel is Called The Love Shack and sounds incredibly exciting, I resisted reading the chapter sampler just yet because I just can't wait to get my hands on the book itself! It is published on 23rd of April! 

Then the very lovely Iona Grey read us a Sample of her glorious novel: Letters to the Lost. I have this sitting on my shelf and I can't wait to read it now! It's out in paperback on April 23rd.

The the very funny Andy Jones treated us to a reading from The Two Of Us which I reviewed last month. Hearing him read his own work just made it come to life even more, look back on the blog for my review of that! The ebook is out now and the lovely paperback edition will be out in May! 

 

Following Andy we were treated to a reading from Heidi Swain, whose debut novel The Cherry street Cafe will be Published in July! 

And finally we had a delicious treat from Milly Johnson who read us an extract from her next novel Afternoon Tea At The Sunflower Cafe which is published on 18th June! 

Of course as well as these fabulous chapter samples, there were also mountains of wonderful books to choose from. There was Jane Costello's entired back catalogue as well as Milly Johnson's full collection of books but as I have all of these I decided to pick up a few I haven't read and so here is my very modest haul from the event...

I picked up these four books and of course there were the goodies inside of my goody bag... Some fabulous tea and tissues as well as summer pudding chocolate. Some lush looking serum and a bookish and proud notebook to make all my bookish lists in as well as another fabulous books and the city tote back which is excellent for carrying books and notes and marking and shoes and well...anything you want around in really and such stylish colours! 

Thanks so much to the whole books and the city team as well as the fabulous authors for another stunning event as Books and the City HQ! It's always fantastic to get to chat to such a glittering selection of people and if you'll excuse me now, I'm off to go and bury my head in one of their fabulous titles! 

NB: apologies for the lack of author selfies as you would normally expect but I was rather sickly and pale looking during this event so I though pictures of the books would be the best way forward! 

Gayle Forman Event at Foyles Charing Cross Road

Last Saturday Foyles Charing across road held a very special event with author Gayle Forman. When I saw that she was speaking in London I jumped at the chance to get tickets to go and see her. This was a free event so that was even better. 

To begin with she introduced herself and then was interviewd, asked various questions about her writing process and what she is working on just now. She revealed that her most recent novel, I was Here was written as a book she was cheating on other books with-how exciting! She also revealed that she is currently writing both a middle grade and an adult book rather than sticking with her usual age range of 'just left high school'

She also talked about books she has been loving recently and shared a fondness of Jandi Nelson novels. She then went of to do a dramatic reading with two audience members, stating that she always felt it was boring when authors read from their own work and whilst I am a fan of hearing and author read words they have written, I have to admit that the dramatic reading was excellent and funny too! 

After the q&a and the reading we were able to go and get our copies of her novels signed and meet her. 

I chose to egg my copy of If I Stay signed as this is my favourite Gayle Forman novel. She was impressed that I had the US edition and I wish I had taken my matching copy of where she went with me! 

It was lovely to hear her speak and great to meet her and I can't wait to go to another Foyles even soon as their even room is set up so well and their events are always a fabulous success! 

Review: Three Amazing Things About You by Jill Mansell

Hallie has a secret. She's in love. He's perfect for her in every way, but he's seriously out of bounds. And her friends aren't going to help her because what they do know is that Hallie doesn't have long to live. Time is running out...

Flo has a dilemma. She really likes Zander. But his scary sister won't be even faintly amused if she thinks Zander and Flo are becoming friends - let alone anything more.

Tasha has a problem. Her new boyfriend is the adventurous type. And she's afraid one of his adventures will go badly wrong.

THREE AMAZING THINGS ABOUT YOU begins as Hallie goes on a journey. A donor has been found and she's about to be given new lungs. But whose?

Review: I loved this book so much. This book made me feel warm and fuzzy and I found myself trying to read it just all of the time. Because I bought this book on audiobook, I was trying to sneak my headphones in anywhere and everywhere, trying to get myself stuck in traffic just so I could try and get this book finished, it seemed to get me out of a total reading slump. Now the only problem is that I'm going to have to read all of Jill Mansell's back catalogue! 

I was hooked into this right from the word go. This is another of those novels that has three fabulous characters all tied together somehow and it was wonderful trying to work out how they would all come together at the end. I loved the storyline of each of the characters, particularly Hallie's storyline although I felt the whole way through that each of them was going to have to go through some sort of tragedy...

Although there was bad news with each of the good thing that happened to these characters, this is by no means a book which is a real downer. There are a couple of moment where you might cry and a couple of tears of joy moments but overall it is totally a feel good novel. It has the perfect pace and the perfect balance of action for each character and these all add to the stuff that made me enjoy this book so much. 

I wasn't entirely sold on the settings but it is interesting to have a book set outside of London or New York for a change. I can't believe this is my first Jill Mansell novels, if they are all this good then I'm going to have to get some serious reading done, and soon! This book really did have it all for me, I loved the structure, the storyline and the characters. It had the perfect balance of feels and it should definitely be your next read! 

Review: The No Kids Club by Talli Roland

At almost forty, Clare Donoghue is living child-free and loving it.

Then her boyfriend says he wants kids, breaking off their promising relationship. And it’s not just boyfriends: one by one, her formerly carefree friends are swallowed up in a nonstop cycle of play dates and baby groups. So Clare decides it’s time for people who don’t have children to band together. And so the No-Kids Club is born.

As the group comes together—Anna, who’s seeking something to jumpstart a stale marriage, and Poppy, desperate for a family but unable to conceive—Clare’s hoping to make the most of the childless life with her new friends.

Will the No-Kids Club be Clare’s route to happiness, or will single life lose its sparkle? Clare is faced with a tough decision and surprises herself along the way.

Review: I love the fact that women who don't want children, not because they can't have them or because they don't have a partner are now being written about, therefore I love the premise behind this book. I really liked the structure as well. Three people with their own lives and issues coming to get her to the No Kids Club all for different reasons and all hoping to get something out of it and becoming friends. This was a totally heart-warming, lovely read that also made you think and carried you along right the way to the end! 

I loved Clare's character the most, I think because she was an incredibly hard-working woman as well as someone who didn't want children in her life and so I could really relate to her and loved seeing her represented in this book! I was drawn to ann because I felt sorry for her and because I wanted everything to go right for her. Of course I identified with poppy too because she was a school teacher although I was occasionally jealous that she seemd to actually have time to breathe and eat as well as be at work! 

The storyline isn't just about whether someone wants a family or not, it is about these three women and their place in modern society. Over the course of the book you get to see them grow as women, get to see them change and become more accepting of themselves and their choices, it was just a real feel-good read but challenging at the same time. As I have already said, this was a fairly fast paced book, I listened to this on audiobook and it was an enjoyable listen but to anyone looking to pick this up in its ebook form, I really recommend that this goes on your TBR now. 

Winner of my Secrets Sisters Keep Giveaway...

So I finally got round the drawing the winner of a copy of Secrets Sisters Keep by Sinead Moriarty-sorry for the delay! 

As I am on the move again, I put all the lovely people who commented on the post into a random name generator like this...

Then gave it a spin like this...

And the winner was.....

Well done! Drop me a direct message on twitter or an email with your address in and I'll have your fabulous Prize sent out to you! 

Happy reading! 

Top Ten Tuesday: books for readers who like fast-paced reads 10/3/15

I

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 always remember a fast paced read. I have a rather hectic work life and so sometimes squeezing reading in can be a real trial, when it find a fast paced read at just that right moment, it is pure perfection and so this list was rather easy. 

1. If I stay by Gayle Forman, such a page turner, totally read it in a day! 

2. Geek Girl by Holly Smale, another YA novel but total fast-paced fun! 

3. The I Heart Series by Lindsey Kelk 

4. The Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan, I can't explain why this was so fast paced but I raced through every page of loveliness! 

5. The Accident by CL Taylor. I know thrillers are generally faster paced but this one was just not able to be put down...

6. Wonder by RJ Palacio, another one I couldn't put down! 

7. Anything by Jane Costello, her book are always funny and pacey! 

8. Losing it by Cora Carmack.

9. Yes Please by Amy Poehler, I think any sort of autobiography is always going to be fairly fast paced because you can hear the author reading it to you as you go...

10. The French For Always by Fiona Valpy. These books are always fast paced and filled with fun French food! 

Well there you go, I think I've included enough for everyone, something to cater to anyone tastes!