Guest Review: Mistletoe on 34th Street by Lisa Dickenson

Olivia has never experienced a snow-covered, 'traditional' Christmas before. Having grown up in a family that chose winter sun over decking the halls, she's not sure what all the fuss is about. So when she and her colleagues are stranded in New York after a work trip, Olivia is perfectly happy spending the holiday season in the Big Apple.

Jon, Olivia's friend, on the other hand is desperate to get home in time for his big family get-together. Nevertheless, determined to make the best out of the situation, he sets out to show Olivia how enchanting Christmas in New York can be. And when handsome New Yorker Elijah is added to the mix, could the magic of the season finally be working its charm on Olivia? As 25 December draws closer, Olivia suddenly finds herself with a decision to make: who does she really want to kiss under the mistletoe this Christmas?

Review: I haven't read anything by Lisa Dickenson before, but this story sounded right up my street, dealing as it does with Christmas and New York, a lovely and exciting city to visit over the festive season. The book has a really pretty cover too, to draw the reader in. 

The main character, Olivia, is visiting New York with work colleagues for a conference, but is due to return just before Christmas. A person who has never embraced the whole Christmas experience, she intends to spend the whole festive season on return from the Big Apple relaxing by herself. While in the city, she meets native New Yorker, Elijah, who begins to open her eyes to the beauty of Christmas, while old friend Jon also chips away at her resolve by introducing her to the wonders of Christmas in this exciting city. Mother Nature also plays a major role by dumping lots of snow on the world and leaving everyone stranded and unable to return home as planned, but giving Olivia extra time to appreciate the good things about Christmas. 

I loved the characters in this story. Olivia is such a great person, looking after her work colleagues, who all seem to have their own problems which she has to take on her shoulders. I admire her ability to concentrate on being the boss and dealing with her 'charges' when New York is out there waiting for her. However, she was a little naive when it came to dealing with the men around her. 

I heartily recommend this book to lovers of Christmas or New York, or both. The story is crammed full of humour and romance, and the delightfully Christmassy feel of New York at this time of year is brought to life through Lisa's skilful descriptions. If you're not feeling the festive spirit yet, this would be a great book to help you out. 

To grab your copy, just click here!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I'm Looking Forward to in 2017 13/12/16

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!

Yes. we're already getting excited for 2017 relseases. I always look to other bloggers to point me in the right direction for these releases as I always seem to be behind with the times. Although I'm in the US now, I'm still going to be doing UK releases as a lot of the authors I love and follow religiously release there first or only so...

1. White Lies and Wishes by Cathy Bramley-out January

2. My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella-out February

3. This Love by Dani Atkins-out March

4. The Queen of Wishful Thinking by Milly Johnson-out March

5. The Escape by CL Taylor-out March

6. Brief Encounter at The Picturehouse by the Sea by Holly Hepburn-out January

7. Then Now Always by Isabelle Broom-out April

8. The One with The White Wedding by Erin Lawless-out February

9. The Summer of Impossible Things by Rowan Coleman-Out May

10. The Summer Seaside Kitchen by Jenny Colgan-out February

So many many more as well, these are all on the TBR wishlist and I suggest you put them on yours too!

Review: The One With The Hen Weekend by Erin Lawless

Nora Dervan is ready for her Happy Ever After. With her darling Harry waiting at the altar, and all her family and friends around her. She is certain that her special day will not be forgotten/will be one to remember…

But with her four bridesmaids hiding more secrets, than bottles of champagne. Will her big day be remembered for all the right reasons?

Bea has barely gotten past the fact that her two best friends are dating, and now they’re engaged, whilst cupid’s arrow points in a forbidden direction for Cleo. She is so distracted by her off limits, hot new colleague that she has forgotten Daisy, who has been left dreading the singles table. There’s more romance in the cheesy pick- up lines than Sarah’s own marriage, which hasn’t turned out as she hoped it would be.

Review: firstly, I think I've worked out that one of the things I love best about this a bridesmaids series by Erin Lawless is that, whilst the books are titled, the one with...The Engagement Party/ The Wedding Dress/ The Hen Weekend, there is so much more to the story than just that thing! The novellas are about the characters, they are character drive instalments of one big story and the humour that comes in the run up to a wedding. I love that fact that I can't wait to read more abut Cleo and Gray, about Bea and Eli, about Sarah and Cole, about Daisy and of course bride Nora! 

This instalment was always going to be an explosive one, and boy does it end with a lot of fireworks! The hen weekend always has the potential to be a source of animosity amongst guests and of course bridesmaids, and there are so many little things that niggle in this storyline, so many things I know would get my back up if I were the bride or the bridesmaid! And this author builds them all up so well, a little bitchy moment here, someone taking over moseying they shouldn't here, a costume no one wanted to wear over here and too much to drink there, so subtle but so effective! Whilst this is definitely a quick read and a Short story, we have every aspect of a fully blown novel storyline in here! 

As I mentioned above, this is very much a characters driven story and each of the characters have their own issues that they bring to this third instalment of the bridesmaids series. Each of their storylines is well-developed too. I think we hear a little more from friend, not bridesmaid Claire in this particular episode and we also get a little more insight into the character of Daisy. I'm really warming to Daisy in ways I dint think I would. Of course we get to hear a little more about Cleo and Gray, definitely my favourite storyline to follow, one moment with Cleo actually had me gasp and do a little shiver (no spoilers here!) and there are definitely some tense moments between the characters too! 

I cannot wait for the final instalment in this one, I seriously need to know what happens and how things that were left up in the air at the end of this instalment are finally resolved! I loved this read and if you haven't read any of this series, there's still time to catch up, do it now! Just click here!

Letterbox Love #3

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.

I was very lucky to get some very exciting books through the post this last week. I made a video about my book haul but I wanted to bring you all the lovely books here on the blog too so here we go!

Firstly I won a TBR of dreams from the lovely people at Books and the City at Simon and Schuster and they sent me this amazing collection of books: 

So these beauties are going straight on my TBR! 

I was also lucky enough to be sent a copy of The Last Night by Cesca Major which was released on 3rd November, I've heard great things about this one so far! 

And finally, I was sent a copy of a novella by Lynda Young Spiro, There is Always More to Say. This sounds a different and interesting read and is also on my December TBR!

Thank you so much to the authors and publishers for sending me these fantastic reads. Do let me know in comments if you've read any of these, I can't wait to get into all of them! 

Review: A Year and a Day by Isabelle Broom

Three women. Three love stories. One city. For Megan, visiting Prague with her friend Ollie is just business. Nothing more. Because if she admits the truth she might lose everything. For Hope, this trip is a surprise treat from Charlie, her new partner. But she's struggling to enjoy the city when she knows how angry her daughter is. And that it's all her fault. For Sophie, Prague has always been magical. And now she's counting down the moments until her boyfriend Robin joins her in the city that holds so many of their memories . . .

Review: where do I start with this book? I just binge-read the last 30% of this when I should have been sleeping because I simply had to find out what happened to the characters. This book is set in the winter time, so it is kind of a festive read but really could be read at any time of year and don't make direct connections to Christmas in any way. This book is set in Prague and Prague really is the fourth major character in this story. The description of this beautiful city is just amazing. You can feel yourself there on every single page. You feel like you've stepped where the characters have, felt the cold, seen the magnificent architecture. I've never Ben to Prague but I feel like I visited after reading this book! 

This story centres around three distinct characters or character pairs. We have Hope, Sophie and Ollie and Megan. All 3 character storylines are separate but all end up crossing over and interconnecting as the novel progresses. I loved that they had each come to Prague with their own stories for their own reasons and with their own secrets. Hope's story was just so heart warming and I think that Ollie and Megan were my favourite characters. I loved their friendship and I loved the way they saw the city. Obviously I identified with Ollie because he is a glasses, wearing teacher who shares the same name as my husband but I really loved the energy they brought to the storyline. Sophie's story was he most compelling for me. I found myself holding my breath waiting to find out what was going to come next for Sophie and she is definitely the most mysterious character. 

Although the novel takes place over just a few days, we get to learn so much about these characters and abut Prague, they all go through such a transformation and I find myself wondering, where are they now, am I going to hear about them again? This really did feel like a classic in this genre and although this is a fairly new author, she feels like one of the established authors of this genre and is now an autobuy author for me. I so enjoyed this read, there were so many levels to this book an the novel is pacy but ultimately heartwarming. This should definitely be added to your Christmas list and your winter TBR! 

To get your copy now, just click here!

November Wrap Up/December TBR

So I recently did a video about what I read in the month of November, but to save you from watching it, I'll tell you... I finished 0 books in November! Yes I can hear your gasps all the way in Denver. I had a busy month in November and I knew it was going to be a little slow with NaNoWriMo and having both our parents over for thanksgiving and also travelling to Las Vegas to get married but I didn't think it would be that slow!

So I gave up on one book, that was Carry on by Rainbow Rowell

And I am currently nearly finished A Year and a Day by Isabelle Broom

I am 45 books behind my Goodreads goal of 100 books for the year. I set my goal a lot lower this year because I knew it was going to be a little bit of a manic one, even back in January but I am pitifully behind even that target right now so basically, my December TBR is to read all of the books. I made a video about that too.

Here are some highlights that I hope to read/finish in the month of December though. Obviously I want to finish m current read of A Year and a Day and also my current listen-The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer.

But I would also like to read the following:

Ambitious I know! I'll let you know how I get on and if I throw in anymore Christmasey reads along the way!

Guest Review: Christmas At The Little Village Bakery by Tilly Tennant

It’s time to get toasty by the fire with a glass of mulled wine and a slice of chocolate yule log sprinkled with a little romance. Welcome to Christmas at the Little Village Bakery.

Snow is falling in Honeybourne and Spencer is bringing home his American fiancée Tori for a traditional English Christmas with all the trimmings. But when his hippie mum and dad meet her high-maintenance parents, sparks of the wrong sort start to fly. Then Spencer bumps into his first love Jasmine and unexpected feelings come flooding back.

Millie is run off her feet with Christmas orders at the Little Village Bakery and new baby Oscar. Thank goodness her cousin Darcie is here to help her. Although she does seem to be rather flirty with Millie’s boyfriend Dylan.

Will Darcie ever find true love of her own? And is marrying Tori a terrible mistake for Spencer if his heart is with someone else? 

Review: This is the second book by Tilly Tennant in her Honeybourne series, based in the village of the same name. It is described as 'A feel good festive romance to curl up by the fire with' and it think that it lives up to that representation. Even had I not read and enjoyed the first book in the series, just the cover of this one would have drawn me to it, filled as it is with a wonderful snowy scene displaying all the festive goodies that might be conjured up in the Little Bakery at this time of year. 

While the first book about Honeybourne dealt primarily with Millie Hopkin, a newcomer who reopened the once thriving village bakery, this one focuses mainly on another of the villagers, Spencer, who is returning to the village for Christmas. Spencer has been working in Boulder, Colorado, on a teaching exchange, and is bringing his American fiancée, Tori, home with him. Both sets of parents are also going to travel to the village for Christmas, where they will meet for the first time. A quaint little village, lots of snow and delicious baked goods; what could possibly go wrong? 

Although the story does revolve predominantly around Spencer and Tori and their trials and tribulations, all the players from the previous book are there. As with any small village, there are some real characters, from the incredibly nosy Ruth who pops up just when she's not needed, to the rather zany Jasmine and her handsome brother Dylan. I don't want to give away any spoilers for the first book, so I will just say that there is plenty of drama going on for each of the characters in this instalment too. 

I enjoyed this book just as much as the previous part. The fact that it is set around Christmas added an interesting extra dimension, and rewarded the reader with some mouthwatering descriptions of festive fare cooked up in the bakery. It could possibly be read as a standalone, but it might be a struggle to place all the characters and figure out what had happened before. With Tilly's nice, easy to read style of writing, I would suggest just simply reading them both! I hope that there will be more from her about this village, as I'd love to find out what happens with Spencer and Tori in particular.