Review: Again but Better by Christine Riccio

From one of the most followed booktubers today, comes Again, but Better, a story about second chances, discovering yourself, and being brave enough to try again.

Shane has been doing college all wrong. Pre-med, stellar grades, and happy parents…sounds ideal -- but Shane's made zero friends, goes home every weekend, and romance…what’s that?

Her life has been dorm, dining hall, class, repeat. Time's a ticking, and she needs a change -- there's nothing like moving to a new country to really mix things up. Shane signs up for a semester abroad in London. She's going to right all her college mistakes: make friends, pursue boys, and find adventure!

Easier said than done. She is soon faced with the complicated realities of living outside her bubble, and when self-doubt sneaks in, her new life starts to fall apart.

Shane comes to find that, with the right amount of courage and determination one can conquer anything. Throw in some fate and a touch of magic - the possibilities are endless.

Review: This is definitely a book of two halves and I think that Christine took a bit of a risk making it that way, but overall I absolutely loved this book. I like the fact that it does change about halfway through and becomes a very different book from the first half. It took a moment for me to adjunct but then I was very much on board with what was happening and leaped into this plot feet first, I was in it for the long haul. This book definitely read a lot like Christine talks in her videos and so that is definitively an acquired taste for some but for me it felt familiar and I enjoyed the pacy and informal writing style. 

I'm not normally a fan of books with magical or fantasy elements to them but this book just has the right balance on magic and reality that I could really get my head around the magic in this book and it walked the fine line between between too magical and just enough. It actually reminded me of the movie 13 Going on 30 so if you're a fan of that movie, you'll love this book. 

One of the things that really connected me with this book is the fact that main character Shane goes to London. She is an American in the UK, and indeed Europe of the first time and explores some of the differences between the UK and the US. I can obliviously very easily relate to this as I did it the other way round. I am a Brit living in the US and some of the differences were definitely unexpected at first! I loved her first experience in the super market as I still have trouble locating some things if they're not things I use every day, where ARE the raisins located?

Shane is a great character to spend your time with. She doesn't have it all figured out but she's figured out how to make this semester abroad thing happen and she definitely has a lot of spirit and a lot of courage. I really like that we get to see her in those college years rather than at school. They are such formative years and so this book definitely has that coming of age element about it. 

Finally, I love the fact that this book has an authors note at the beginning. I have recently discovered that I really like when an author includes that in their book and tells me a little bit behind their writing process or the reason for them writing a book. It just makes me feel so much more connected to the plot and the characters and I love that this was included in this book. I do recommend this one. It was a surprising read but one that I connected with and really enjoyed. 

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

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Review: In Five Years by Rebecca Searle

Where do you see yourself in five years?

When Type-A Manhattan lawyer Dannie Cohan is asked this question at the most important interview of her career, she has a meticulously crafted answer at the ready. Later, after nailing her interview and accepting her boyfriend's marriage proposal, Dannie goes to sleep knowing she is right on track to achieve her five-year plan.

But when she wakes up, she’s suddenly in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger, and beside a very different man. The television news is on in the background, and she can just make out the scrolling date. It’s the same night—December 15—but 2025, five years in the future.

After a very intense, shocking hour, Dannie wakes again, at the brink of midnight, back in 2020. She can’t shake what has happened. It certainly felt much more than merely a dream, but she isn’t the kind of person who believes in visions. That nonsense is only charming coming from free-spirited types, like her lifelong best friend, Bella. Determined to ignore the odd experience, she files it away in the back of her mind.

That is, until four-and-a-half years later, when by chance Dannie meets the very same man from her long-ago vision.

Brimming with joy and heartbreak, In Five Years is an unforgettable love story that reminds us of the power of loyalty, friendship, and the unpredictable nature of destiny.

 

Review: Everyone has been saying how unexpected this book was but really I know that love stories are normally straight forward but I love when they're not. This love story gave me something different in a wonderful setting with a main character that was very intriguing. So it was definitely a hit for me. 

I really liked reading about Dannie because she wasn't necessarily easy to like right from the get go. She seems a little entitled or some might even say spoiled. As you get to know her though, you realise she is full of heart and she really does want the best for her loved ones. It's not easy being young and trying to move your life forward on today's society, especially not in a big city like New York but she is trying her best. 

I loved Dannie's relationship with Bella. I really love when the friendship is at the forefront of a novel and in this novel, that is definitely the case! Bella was also a bit of a prickly character, a bit difficult to get through to but that meant that this book felt like going on a journey with these two and you were really part of that journey!

The thing that comes second to the amount of love and heart in this book, for me, was the setting. I fell in love with the parts of New York city these characters were socialising in, where they lived and it was all described so beautifully. I could picture Dannie going to work, I could picture them heading to the rainbow room. I could feel the buzz and the energy from the streets and that feeling of being hemmed in amongst all those tall buildings. If you love New York this is definitely one that reflects the city in its best light. 

Overall there are some emotional moments in this book and whilst it might not be what people were expecting from the description, I loved it and a highly recommend it. 

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

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Blog Tour: Interview with Alex Bryant Author of The Identity Thief @alexbryantauth @lovebooksgroup #lovebookstours

The Identity Thief by Alex Bryant @alexbryantauth @lovebooksgroup #lovebookstours  

Today I am on the blog tour for The Identity Thief by Alex Bryant. I have an author interview to share with you today and if you like the sound of that, you can click here to order your copy now. Don't forget to check out the other stops on the tour for more exclusive content and reviews.

Here's what it's all about...

A shapeshifting sorcerer called Cuttlefish unleashes a terrifying wave of magical carnage across London. A strange family known as the River People move into Cassandra Drake's neighbourhood. Are the two events connected?

A Note from the author...

Reasons to buy this book:

✔ Good cover.

✔ Cheap. Seriously, the Kindle version only costs as much as about 3 mangoes. What would you rather have – 10 hours of gripping urban fantasy, or 30 minutes of biting into sweet, succulent mango flesh?

✔ OK, I shouldn’t have used mango, objectively the best fruit, as a comparison. But buying this book doesn’t stop you from buying mangoes, if that’s what you insist on doing.

Are you ready for that interview?

Where did you get the idea for the novel?

The first idea for the novel came when I was 19, shortly after falling off a horse. Or possibly shortly before - the exact chronology is lost to history. So is the horse’s name, so don’t even ask. The idea was for an opening chapter: a girl comes home one day to find that her dad’s disappeared, and the shadowy organisation he works for wants to take her away for questioning.

The current book, admittedly, has almost nothing to do with that. But from there, the world rolled into life like an out-of-control snowball, picking up all of my other obsessions along the way. Witchcraft and witch-hunts were an obvious thing to include. And the very earliest scene I wrote that made its way into the book actually dates to a dream I had when I was 16. It was about being forced to visit a bizarre old house, meeting its strange inhabitants, and being shown into a vast underground library… It left a strong impression, shaping both Omphalos, the sinister house at the centre of The Identity Thief, and the Lyceum, the shadowy magical organisation which is tied to it.

Which character from The Identity Thief do you most identify with?

Obviously not the main character, Cass, who’s a nasty piece of work, inspired by the kind of girl I was terrified of in school. It’s actually Hector, the quiet and pathologically awkward one who’s probably plotting something evil behind closed doors.

Unfortunately, my friends unanimously agree that I am in fact Cuttlefish, the shapeshifting villain. I resent this - 18 is a perfectly sensible number of masks to own. I go to a lot of parties, and nobody wants to be that guy who’s always wearing the same mask at a party.

Where did you get the idea for the world?

First up,  magic is cool. Books with magic in are better than books without magic in. So there was always going to be magic in any novel I wrote.

In books, everyone is totally chill about magic. But in real life, people tend not to be remotely chill about magic. In fact, for a large chunk of history right up to the present day, people have gone around executing each other brutally for practising magic. In Europe, we literally only stopped doing that when it turned out magic didn’t exist.

In the world of the God Machine, magic does of course exist, so it stands to reason that people are still afraid of it - still hunting down witches and punishing them severely. That’s how I ended up creating the Sorcery Investigation Department, a modern-day Inquisition tasked with stopping sorcery in all its forms. 

Who were your literary inspirations?

I’m going to go ahead and assume that’s a pretentious way of saying “favourite authors”.

First up is Jonathan Stroud. Specifically, the Bartimaeus trilogy. Possibly the most underappreciated children’s books out there. Not by me, of course. I appreciate them a huge deal. But I’m just one man. I can’t give them all the appreciation they deserve. Go read them! They’re about an alternative modern-day London where sorcery is wielded by a select few. So if you liked The Identity Thief, you like them.

If you like classics, read The Master and Margarita. This book is so influential that I straight up stole several quips and scenes from it. But because it’s a classic, this doesn’t count as theft; it’s an ‘allusion’, which actually makes me a better writer.

Contrary to everyone’s assumption, I don’t like either Terry Pratchett or Neil Gaiman. Sorry, guys. I’ve just never been able to get into them. Despite having had virtually every book in the Discworld series recommended to me, or just outright bought for me, at some point. And despite The Identity Thief being compared to them most frequently.

Douglas Adams, on the other hand, is great. The best version of the infinite Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy adaptations is, of course, the text-based adventure game. Look it up!

 What’s your writing process?

I sit down at my laptop and open my novel manuscript. I like to check my emails before I start writing, to clear all that annoying admin out the way. One of the emails is about booking an appointment. I open my phone to see when I’m free. While I’m checking my calendar, I get a message notification from a friend about something I was supposed to do yesterday. I open up Messenger to say sorry, and I’ll do it now. But before I do it, I see an article someone’s posted in a group chat. I read it, and three more articles that the first article links to. I close the page, and wind up looking at an Amazon checkout page. Oh yeah, I was in the middle of buying a birthday present three days ago, and must have got distracted. Looking at it now, I could probably find a nicer thing on Etsy. I take a look, and spot some way cooler stuff I want but probably shouldn’t buy. I decide I’m better off thinking about it over lunch. Damn, I don’t have any lunch food. I decide to nip to the shops, but remember I have a package to send that I may as well take with me. I go back to print out a postage label. I discover I’m out of paper so I’ll have to go to the shops first anyway. I go to the shops and buy toothpaste. I forget to buy either lunch or paper.

It’s taken me ten years to write The Identity Thief.

About Author Alex Bryant

Alex has led a largely comfortable but unremarkable life in North London, and more recently Oxford. His main hobbies as a kid were reading and sulking.

When he’s not writing, he’s performing with his improvised comedy troupe, Hivemind Improv. And when he is writing, he’s procrastinating.

The first idea for The God Machine came when he was 19, shortly after falling off a horse. Or possibly shortly before - the exact chronology is lost to history. So is the horse’s name, in case you were wondering.

Author site: www.alexbryantauthor.com

Goodreads: /alexbryantauthor (www.goodreads.com/alexbryantauthor)

Instagram: @alexbryantauthor (www.instagram.com/alexbryantauthor)

Facebook: @alexbryantauthor (www.facebook.com/alexbryantauthor)

Twitter: @alexbryantauth (www.twitter.com/alexbryantauth)

Blog Tour: Review of The Secret Seaside Escape by Heidi Swain

I'm very excited to be part of the blog tour today for The Secret Seaside Escape by Heidi Swain. The ebook is out now and you can click here to order your copy now. I have a review to share with you today but don't forget to check out the other stops on the tour for more exclusive content and reviews. 

Here's what it's all about...

Tess Tyler needs a break. Weighed down by her high-pressure job and her demanding father, she’s left little time to take care of herself. But after a shocking discovery sends her spiralling, she flees to Wynmouth, the seaside town she fell in love with as a child, to escape it all.

With its sandy beaches, stunning rock pools and welcoming community, Tess feels like she can finally breathe again. And as she grows ever closer to local barman Sam, she dares to dream that she might never return to her real life. But when a familiar face returns to town, Tess realises that there are secrets in Wynmouth too, and that her own past may be about to catch up with her . . .  

Review: Well this was a welcome escape from the real world. Heidi Swain always lets you delve deep into her worlds, walk along with her characters and enjoy some really tasty meals in the coffee shops and pubs that she creates and it is always a welcome escape to me. 

I really enjoyed this new coastal setting in the Wynbridge worlds. Although this is not a Wynbridge novel you can tell that this all takes place in the same world and I know that characters from Heidi's previous novels will have walked these shores and been tempted by this coffee shop too. 

As well as this book having a great setting it also has a lot to say about slowing down and taking a moment to breathe in this technology saturated more is more world. I really liked how Heidi picked up this theme and really illustrated how damaging it can be trying to keep up in the corporate world and never switching off because our emails are on our phones and our employers can reach us at any time.

I think the fact that this novel has the message of slowing down and taking a moment to smell the rose does mean that it moves at a slower pace to previous Heidi Swain books. I feel like it took me longer to get to the crescendo and the ending than in some of the Wynbridge novels where there is always a hive of activity and multiple characters are living their own drama filled storylines. I don't think there was an issue with the pacing, it is just slower than I have come to expect from a Heidi Swain book.  

Tess was a really fun character to spend this novel with because she really seems to know herself. She has been on a trajectory that she thought that she loved and she thought that she wanted but actually when she takes a step back ans examines that, she knows deep down that something has to give. I really liked how family oriented she is as well. She has a great loyalty to her family and yet they haven't always been there for her the way they should have. 

There are some other wonderful characters we get to meet in this novel too. Sophie has the aforementioned coffee shop that we know will always feature in some way or another in a Heidi Swain novel and her daughter Hope share a definite affinity for making things bigger and better with main character Tess. And then there are Joe and Sam. Each mysterious in their own way, we can tell there is going to be some romance where these guys are concerned. 

If you're looking for a seaside escape then this novel literally tells you that's what it's going to give you on the front cover. This is a nice break from a lot of the recent 'coastal' novels that are all set in Cornwall. It was nice to have a sleepy setting, an interesting cast and of course Heidi's Swains infamous signature dishes. Don't read this unless you have access to some snacks and possibly a pint! I really recommend this book. 

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

Thanks so much to Heidi for stopping by the blog today!

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