Sunday 26 February 2012

Just Another Manic Mum-Day by Mink Elliott

After finishing Before I go to Sleep I needed to kick back and relax on this beautiful Cancun beach with a little bit of pure, easy chick lit! While browsing the shelves of WHSmith there was a very bright book that seemed to stand out from the rest so it was clear this book was boarding this plane with me!

Plot


Roxy, Jack and daughter Joey, three, are building a new life for themselves in sunny Sydney, Australia, but Roxy's finding it hard to settle down. When she discovers she's pregnant again, things become even more complicated - how will she cope with a second child?


Frustrated at the lack of places for stressed-out mums to go, Roxy and her new friend, Shoshanna, set up Just Another Manic Mum-Day - a café catering exclusively for parents. But when an opportunity arises for Roxy to return to England, she realises just how much she's missed home.


My Opinion
This is the first book I have read by Mink Elliott but this book does actually follow on from her previous book The P***ed off Parents Club, having not realised this when I first brought the book I was a little bit hesitant about reading it in case I felt like I didn't follow the flow of the book by not already being introduced to the characters but I didn't find this at all, there were a few mentions of The P***ed off Parents Club but I still found I was on track with the storyline.

The main character in this book is Roxy who is our typical mum struggling to try and balance out the different aspects of her life, work, money and weight being her main struggles alongside trying to raise daughter Joey and be the loving wife to Jack. I do not have kids but even I found I could relate to her character constantly trying to struggle through the worries of life so Roxy was an easy character to connect to.

The storyline was very easy in the typical chick lit style which made it a great beach read. The book gets off to a great start so we are absorbed straight into the story. There are a great mix of characters in this book some you will love, others you will have your guard up from the moment you meet them. There was some great humour in this book most of which came from little Joey who I loved.

If you are looking for a quick read, nothing challenging then this book is worth picking up.

 Like me you may also like to check out the previous book the link is below to grab your copy.

Friday 24 February 2012

Renovation, Renovation, Renovation by Nell Dixon

Plot
A fun romantic comedy with a unique twist that kept me hooked from beginning to end -- Gemma Halliday, bestselling author of the High Heel mysteries

Overworked, over budget and just so not over him! Kate would like an engagement ring from Steve but instead he's lumbered them with a thirteenth renovation project, and doing up Myrtle Cottage disturbs a ghost from the English Civil War who has romance troubles of her own.


My Opinion


The main character in this book is the loveable and down to earth Katie. She was an easy character to follow as she felt so life like although she found herself trapped in an impossible situation still having to live with her Ex. We really feel the emotions and confusion that Katie feels.


Nell Dixon used a great structure in this book by swapping from Katie's view to the ghost's view which I though was great to be able to see how they were both perceiving the situation.


I found the storyline was unpredictable other than the situation involving her mum and Chuck. There were times when I was so frustrated with both Katie and her ex Steve you just wanted a character to come up to them and point out the obvious!


The last few chapters were real page turners for me and I was well and truly gripped!
I can imagine Nell Dixon had a lot of spine tingly fun whilst doing the research for this book!


Thursday 23 February 2012

I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

Plot
I've lost it. :( The only thing in the world I wasn't supposed to lose. My engagement ring. It's been in Magnus's family for three generations. And now, the very same day his parents are coming, I've lost it. The very same day. Do not hyperventilate, Poppy. Stay positive!! :)

A couple of glasses of bubbly with the girls at a charity do and Poppy's life has gone into meltdown. Not only has she lost her engagement ring, but in the panic that followed, she's lost her phone too. As she paces shakily round the hotel foyer she spots an abandoned phone in a bin. Finders keepers! Now she can leave a number with the hotel staff. It was meant to be!

Except the phone's owner, businessman Sam Roxton, doesn't agree. He wants his phone back, and doesn't appreciate Poppy reading all his messages and wading into his personal life. As Poppy juggles wedding preparations, phone messages and hiding her left hand from Magnus and his parents, can things get any more tangled?

My Opinion
I am a huge Sophie Kinsella fan and I have read all of her previous books ( as I am sure many of you who follow this blog have to!), so you can imagine how excited I was when I came home from work last week to a copy of I've Got Your Number which my partner had brought me.

Our main character in this book is the lovely Poppy who I loved from the first chapter as she had a very soft and loving feel to her character but also had a great sense of humour which I found similar to Kinsella's previous character Becky. Poppy's relationship with our leading man Sam was great to red as they slowly get to know each other under an unusual circumstance.
The book was a real page turner and was such an entertaining light read. I have always found myself chuckling away whilst reading all of Sophie Kinsella's books but I found the humour slightly different in this book, as funny scenarios came from nowhere and so were unexpected and it was also very down to earth humour, with some of the things I could see myself doing including the whole scrabble chapter!

There was one thing I was a little unsure of when I first started reading this book and that was the use of footnotes. I found at the beginning having to keep leaving the story to go down to read the footnote was a little of putting and I was worried that this was going to effect the flow of the book but after a couple of chapters the footnotes become less frequent and actually some of them did add to the natural humour of the book it just to a while to get used to them as I have never read a book with so many footnotes in!

This has to be one of my favourite Sophie Kinsella books. It really is going to be a big seller among chick lit fans. With two great main characters, an easy reading yet unlikely storyline and a bucket full of humour, not forgetting that little splash of romance what more can you ask for? Pure Perfection!


Discovery At Rosehill by Kathyrn Brown

Kathyrn Brown has relaunch her novel this week, Discovery At Rosehill. You can head over to her blog http://crystaljigsaw.blogspot.com/p/discovery-at-rosehill-blurb.html and read an excerpt from chapter One to see if it will get your mind tingling and your fingers hitting that Buy Now button on Amazon!

Plot

Finding your dream home is difficult enough, but what if you found it and then discovered it was haunted? Medium Camilla Armstrong is led to the beautiful Rosehill country estate after communication with her deceased grandmother. On first inspection she senses tranquillity within the house; the gentle atmosphere of a Georgian manor that is crying out for new life. But when she moves in, Camilla discovers the house contains a dark secret, one which is to change her life forever.


When The Reverend Marcus Calloway introduces himself to her, a friendship develops and Camilla realises she could at last have found her true love. But all is not what it seems when further spirit contact confirms that Marcus harbours a guilty secret.


Spirit communication, manifestations and an eerie atmosphere all add to Camilla’s new surroundings as she tries hard to decipher mixed messages and a life she never knew existed. An open mind is all she asks for as her relationship with Marcus grows and the secrets of Rosehill are discovered with help from her relatives of a world beyond our own.

My Opinion
I had just finished reading a chick lit book which had a slight paranormal feel to it which is not something I usually go out of my way to read ( I am terrible and getting stuck in my comfortable genres!) and yet I really enjoyed that kind of style to the storyline so I decided to come out of my comfort zone a little further and read a much deeper paranormal suspense book.

Our main character is Camilla, who is a medium. Camilla didn't come across as the eccentric character I was expecting she felt very familiar and down to earth which made you warm to the character within the first few pages. I have always had an interest in the paranormal so it was quite exciting for me reading the way Camilla communicated with the surrounding spirits. The storyline had a very mystical feel to it but I didn't find that it was too full on at any point.
I loved the unusual romance in this book to say it was unexpected was an understatement and to think that I thought I have trouble in my relationship well it doesn't compare to having the unwanted input from a spirit!
I think the only place I went wrong with this book is I was silly enough to read this book at night snuggled up in bed!! I have to hold my hands up and say I did sleep with my little lamp on as this book literally sent shivers down my spine!

This is definitely one for any of you who like a bit of romance with a difference!



You can follow Kathyrn Brown on twitter : 

Monday 20 February 2012

Forged In Fire by Trish McCallan

Plot
Beth Brown doesn’t believe in premonitions until she dreams a sexy stranger is gunned down during the brutal hijacking of a commercial airliner. When events in her dream start coming true, she heads to the flight’s departure gate. To her shock, she recognizes the man she’d watched die the night before.


Lieutenant Commander Zane Winters comes from a bloodline of elite warriors with psychic abilities. When Zane and two of his platoon buddies arrive at Sea-Tac Airport, he has a vision of his teammates’ corpses. Then she arrives—a leggy blonde who sets off a different kind of alarm.


As Beth teams up with Zane, they discover the hijacking is the first step in a secret cartel’s deadly global agenda and that key personnel within the FBI are compromised. To survive the forces mobilizing against them, Beth will need to open herself to a psychic connection with the sexy SEAL who claims to be her soul mate.




My Opinion
From the word go this book was fast paced all the way through this book it was action packed with something happening on each page that had you gripped. The characters were not developed very well but I think this is because there was so much going on in this book but I hope that we get to know the characters a bit better in the follow on to this book. I was also hoping for a lot more romance but the characters romance couldn’t really develop more than it did as the storyline is only based on a 12 hour day and there was obviously more pressing matters in this book than my need for a bit more romance!

I loved the whole psychic ability in this book it made the book have a more mysterious feel to it although i am quite glad I don’t share the same gift as I don’t think my partner would want to hear my thoughts at times!
I have to say what kept me intrigued in this book was the male lead character Zane for some reason I was really drawn to his character and it is for this reason alone that I will read the next book to see what happens with him next.

Ok now I need to give a good explanation for my star rating. I am always one who loves a good bit of suspense and I even don’t mind being left on a cliff hanger wondering what will happen next but the truth is with this book the ending was not to my liking at all I actually had to check it had downloaded properly as it just felt like it stopped mid sentence, the ending really did feel like it came from nowhere I felt a little cheated.
I feel that this book has made a good foundation for the next book to continue on so I will be looking out for her next book.

If you are looking for a fast paced action packed read then this is one for you!




Trish McCallan has been kind enough to provide one e-book copy of Forged In The Fire to us which is now up for grabs all you need to do is comment below " I NEED this book!" all entries will be put into the prize draw and the winner will be picked via random.org. Closing date is 24th February. GOOD LUCK!

Pear Shaped by Stella Newman

Pear Shaped is Stella Newman's debut book. I had this ready to read on my kindle but decided to save it for the holiday as I loved the sound of the plot and so was sure it was one I was really going to enjoy. I was looking forward to having a few good laugh out loud moments after reading how "witty" and "achingly funny" it was.

Plot

If you found yourself glued to David Nicholls’s One Day or belting out the lyrics to Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black then you’ll love this book.Girl meets boy.Girl loses boy.Girl loses mind.Sophie Klein walks into a bar one Friday night and her life changes. She meets James Stephens: charismatic, elusive, and with a hosiery model ex who casts a long, thin shadow over their burgeoning relationship. He’s clever, funny and shares her greatest pleasure in life – to eat and drink slightly too much and then have a little lie down. Sophie’s instinct tells her James is too good to be true – and he is.An exploration of love, heartbreak, self-image, self-deception and lots of food. Pear-Shaped is in turns smart, laugh-out-loud funny and above all, recognizable to women everywhere.


My Opinion
I have struggled to write this review. I really wanted to enjoy this book but I think I got my hopes up a bit too much after reading the synopsis and the comments about how funny it was. I have to say there is not one moment in this book where I found my self smiling let alone laughing, I really don't think you can call this a "funny" book.
The first half of the book started off ok but just under half way through the pace really started to take a dive and I had to struggle along to manage to finish the book.
I think the main problem for me in this book was that I really couldn't see what it was that Sophie sees in James. He has to be the most awful male character I have ever read as the love interest in a book, he constantly puts Sophie down and not in a tactful way, I just couldn't figure out why she would put up with so much negativity in a relationship when he clearly was holding her at arms length not wanting a serious relationship. He is such a vile character that my faults towards his character soon took over any enjoyment in the book.
The best parts in this book were when Sophie went to work, when Stella Newman talks about desserts in this book the story seemed to flow a lot easier as did the relationship between Sophie and Will. It was because of these parts of the book that I didn't give the book a 2 star.

This would not be the kind of book I would read again but at the special price on kindle at the moment (99p) it will be worth reading just don't expect to get a stitch from laughing too much!



Sunday 19 February 2012

February releases EXCITED!!!

Wow is it just me or is February been the best month for new book releases!! Here are the ones I am having for my reading pile!





What books have you all got your eyes on for February? xXx

Saturday 18 February 2012

Me Before You by JoJo Moyes

January was a low month for me when it came to books being released, my big problem was I was going on holiday and needed to stock up on my books! The one that did catch my eye and I had heard good things about was Me Before You, I had never read any of JoJo Moyes previous books but I was eager to try this book to see if it was as good as people had said.

Plot

Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.

What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that.

What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.

My Opinion
I came accross this book in WHSmith in the paperback chart and the first thing I have to say about this book is I love the cover as it gave no indication as to what to expect from the storyline but yet the colours used on the cover instantly pulled me in.
From the first chapter of this book I was HOOKED as Moyes has such a realistic and natural flow to her writing, which makes it a believable storyline that just keeps flowing along beautifuly.

This is a true romance story through and through and what sets this book aside from other romance books is the unique storyline. The two main characters in this book are Lou and Will and I found that both of these characters are very likeable and they felt very life like that towards the end of the book they feel so familair they are like friends of ours.

I loved the different emotions the storyline brought out in me, there were times when I laughed out loud and there were also times when I cried behind my sunglasses!! There really are some heartbreaking moments for both of our characters during this book.
It was amazing how Moyes managed to take such a delicate subject matter which could have made for a very depressing read and yet still managed to bring some humour out in the book so that the book didnt feel too deep all the way through the book.

In my opinion this is a sensationally moving read that has to be next on your to be read list and easily gets a full 5 stars from me!


Wednesday 1 February 2012

This is a Love Story by Jessica Thompson

How stunning is this cover? This was winking at me from the shelf so it didn’t take me long to pick it up and start reading! 

Plot
This is a love story. 
Boy meets girl and girl falls for boy - that much is true. 
But when Sienna meets Nick it's not the way it happens in love stories. It's because of a squirrel on water skis...
She sees Nick's dangerous brown eyes and thinks,
Don't.
Fall.
Into.
Them.


Who will be there to catch Siena when she falls? She is so fragile. She has so many secrets, and he is not that serious.


Funny and sad, this is the story of two people destined never to come together in the great love affair they crave more than anything else.

My Opinion
This is simply one of the best books I have read in a long time it is a true little gem. The start of the book is a little slow but as the storyline started to develop and we started to bond with the characters it became a true page turner. If you are looking for an airy fairy read then this really isn’t going to cut it for you as the storyline is very delicate and realistic and covers some touching issues. 

There were times where I found myself laughing out loud ( no I didn’t fart or snort like a greedy pig !!!) * once you read the book you will understand! But towards the end of the book my laughter soon turned to tears. I think the reason I found it so emotional is because of the way Jessica Thompson manages to describe the characters so well they feel so real, so certain scenario’s really pulled at my heart strings.

I found the storyline really captivating although there were times where I found myself wanting to shake both of the characters and make them see sense. 

I find it quite hard to believe that this book is a debut for Jessica Thompson, if this is the kind of work she starts off with then I am very excited to see what she has in store for us next!





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