Must Be Love by Cathy Woodman

One of my favourite books I have read this year was Trust Me I'm a Vet by Cathy Woodman. It was one of those books you just keep thinking I will just read the end of this chapter but that ends up turning into the end of the book!!

So you can imagine my delight when I was searching the new book releases and see Must Be Love by Cathy Woodman. It has a similar front cover to her previous book which is how I noticed it instantly, and after reading the back of the book to see if it sounded like a book I would enjoy, I was overjoyed to read that it was a carry on from the first book!

Must Be Love continues with the story of Maz the new vet at Otter House in the country. Maz has now become joint partnership of Otter House along with best friend Emma. Maz seems to be settling in very well and her love life with the lovely vet Alex is blossoming.
Relationships are tried and tested in this book when Maz finds out she is pregnant and has to break the news to her best friend Emma who has just lost a baby which makes for many difficult problems during the book.

I am glad to say I was not let down by this book being a carry on as I find often when you read a second in the series book it usually is a big letdown in story line compared to the first book but in this instance this is not the case. The story line is just as good in the first book and the characters are developed even more in this second book which helps us to relate to the characters and enjoy the book even more.
I found that this book had a lot more emotional quality to it compared to the first book and had a believable storyline to it which is one of the reasons I felt like I couldn't put the book down as I needed to know what happens next.

I have to say that also felt that there could possibly be a third in the series as the ending of this book was left open with big possibilities.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed Trust me I'm a Vet and also to anyone who enjoys books by Katie Fforde as I feel that both of these Authors books seem to grab me in the same way, I feel they have a similar way of writing and feel as though they have really done their research before writing their books.

Trust Me I'm A Vet by Cathy Woodman

I came across this book when I was in the library, I have to say I would not usually go out of my way to read a book about animals as they are not a great interest of mine but a month or so ago I read a book about lost dogs and thoroughly enjoyed it so I thought I would give this one a go.



Our main character in this book is Maz Harwood. She is a vet who up until recent events have worked as a vet in the city. Her partner who also is her boss decides he wants to make another go of a relationship with his ex-wife which breaks Maz's heart and makes working in that environment hard so she decides to leave work.


An opportunity comes up for Maz to help out her old college friend Emma who has a vet practice in the country and it seems the right time for her so accepts Emma's proposal. Little does Maz know just how hard this will be as the vet clinic is in financial trouble which is left for Maz to sort out but does she manage this or does she just make things worse?

As you can expect there is a love interest in this book who comes by the name of Alex but like many romances things do not go smoothly especially due to the fact that part of the financial ruin of the vetinary clinic is thanks to Alex's family vet practice. It just goes to show you can not choose who you are going to fall in love with.

I found this book a light hearted read. There were many references to animals in the general running of a vetinary clinic so if you are in deed an animal lover I think you would thoroughly enjoy this book. I found many parts of the book very predictable but this didn't ruin the book it just had you gasping at the characters in the book saying how could you not have seen that coming!!


I found this a similar kind of read to a review I done a while back by Lucy Dillon called Lost dogs and Lonely hearts. The city heart broken girl who comes to the country to deal with animals and get her life back on track! There are many characters in this book both human and animals which you sometimes get muddled up but due to it being a light hearted read this does not ruin the story.


If you are looking for a book with humour this is really not the book for you as in my opinion there were no funny points in the book. I would recommend this book to anyone who liked Lost Dogs and Lonely hearts. It definatly would appeal to anyone who loves animals.
There is a follow on to this book called It's a Vets Life. The first chapter of this book is in the end of Trust me I'm a Vet so you can have a snippet before you buy.

Johnny Be Good by Paige Toon

Paige Toon is a recently new author to me. I came across one of her books Chasing Daisy last week which I thoroughly enjoyed so when I stumbled across Johnny Be Good by Paige Toon I could walk past it. I started this book last night in bed and finished it off today whilst I was in hospital having my treatment. It was that good that a few times the nurses spoke to me and I was so engrossed I didn't answer! This is Paige Toon's second book.

Meg Stiles is given the opportunity of a life time when she is offered a job to become a PA for a big rock star thing is she has to leave her life in England behind her and live in LA.
When she arrives in LA it is quite obvious her life is going to be somewhat different now. She finds herself at showbiz parties and top class gigs, could she be any further away from her old life back in England. Things are not as glamorous as it seems though as Meg finds herself falling for her boss the well known drug, drink and woman lover, Johnny Jefferson. Are his feelings the same as Megs and if not can she make him fall in love with her?

I enjoyed this book. I felt like it was on the same level as Chasing Daisy. Again with this book you warm instantly to the main character, Meg who is warm and caring and down to earth she feels like your typical girl next door. Johnny Jefferson's character is like a rollercoaster, one minute her is a typical selfish, bigheaded celebrity which made you dislike him especially the way he treats Meg and his friend Christian when he is like this, then the next minute his character seems to soften and come down to our level and you start to warm to him and feel a little sorry for him in parts but this is short lived!
There are many characters in this book but I do not find that this got confusing at any point. I also found that the chapters in this book are short which is a great help when you have only got time to read a few pages you can leave it at the end of a chapter.

The only thing I personally didn't like about this book is that the ending leaves us as the reader on a cliff hanger, we don't know what actually what the true outcome is and I do not like this in a book unless there is another book to come but I have heard nothing about a follow up book to this one. This book would have easily got a 5 star from me had the ending been tied up nicely but now I am left wondering what really happens!

Chasing Daisy by Paige Toon

Today was my day off of work and with the brilliant sun finally shining I did no more than sat in the garden and read PaigeToon's Chasing Daisy. This is the first book I have read by Paige Toon but the bright front cover was calling me in!

PLOT

Daisy Rogers works as front of house for the Formula 1 racing's catering firm. She is staring to enjoy life again and is going out each night with the gang from work and her new best friend Holly who works alongside her. Her work life soon becomes involved with her personal life when she falls in love with Will who is one of the racing drivers the trouble is he has a long term girlfriend. Daisy's feelings for Will does not go unnoticed as Louis (the other racing driver) sees the way she looks each time he walks into the room. Will Louis be able to keep this secret or will he have reasons of his own to inform Daisy that he knows?

My Opinion
I really enjoyed this book as I am sure you can tell seen as I have finished the book in a day! The character of Daisy is a warm and loving character which I managed to warm to straight from the first chapter. Although the story was based around the formula 1 circuit there was still a great romantic feel to the book but also I found a few of the chapters were heartbreaking. I think this was more because you didn't see what was going to happen next as the story is not predictable so I found some parts was upsetting but this only made me want to read on to see what was going to happen next. Parts of the story seemed so real when you was reading it but it is not until you read the acknowledgements by Paige Toon at the back of the book that she tells us that her Father was a racing driver which is why the details of the racing circuit seemed so real and also the crash which she writes about for one of her characters is based on the crash she watched as she was a child involving her Father, I think this is why the book was so touching because it was written with depth as it was based on real events . I was a little apprehensive when I started to read this book as it was straight into the formula 1 theme and I cannot say I am a huge fan on car racing so it is not my idea of a perfect read but I soon changed my mind when the book worked its magic and had me hooked!

Having now read this book I cannot wait to read another book by Paige Toon, as I can say that Chasing Daisy is one of the best books that I have read. I would highly recommend this book especially to any of you who are chick-lit lovers.

Walking Back To Happiness by Lucy Dillon

One of my favourite books which I read in 2010 was by a new author to me, Lucy Dillon with her award winning book Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts. The way she brought the reader into the story made its mark on me. One of my Christmas presents was Lucy Dillon's new book Walking Back to Happiness which I knew by the style of the front cover was Lucy Dillon's book. I was hoping it would be just as good as the previous book.

****PLOT****
The story is mainly based on Juliet whose husband Ben has passed away at such a young age and Juliet just wants to hide away from the world but her mum and sister Louise have other plans and try to coax her out of her home each day. Diane, Juliet's Mum, gets Juliet the job of dog walker for her neighbour but word soon gets out about Juliet and she finds herself with a list as long as her arm of people who need their dogs walking. Juliet begins taking small steps to become a part of society and to start living again with the help of her family and the love interest Lorcan, who lives next door. Lorcan makes small steps to help Juliet get the run down home she shields herself in back to a liveable condition but can he also fix Juliet?
There is also a few chapters in this book which are from Juliet's sisters point of view which adds a small storyline to a main storyline which was quite a nice touch. We see that although Juliet thinks that Louise is the world's perfect wife and mother things are not always quite what they seem.

****CHARACTERS****
JULIET:- We see Juliet's character grow throughout the book and as her character grows we warm more to her character as each chapter comes along. I found that each little step that Juliet takes you just want to give her a pat on the back and say "Well done, everything is going to be ok !"
Lorcan:- I was a little uncertain of his character when he first arrives in the book. He was a little mysterious and was a little wary but as the story came along and he became more involved you really connected to his character and like the gentle approach he was taking in helping Juliet.
Louise:- This was one character which I didn't really connect with. We see that Louise is struggling coming to terms with the changes in her life now she is a new mum, and she finds herself falling out of love with her husband and falling for another man who seems to understand her more.
Diane:- Juliet and Louise's mum is your typical interferring but lighthearted mother and you can see that everything she does she is taking her daughters into consideration.

****MY OPINION****
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found I could not put this book down. I think the way the story is brought to us is unlike any book I have read before it was full of hurt and emotion and as the reader you actually feel as if this is happening to someone you know as you connect with the story right from the first page. Although it is a very sad book I did not find it depressing. I did find it was a little bit of a shame that we didn't actually get to meet Juliet's husband Ben before he past but this is made up for with many references about their relationship throughout the book.

This book had one similarity with the previous and that is the use of the dogs in both books and they also do the same job in helping their owners to start again. The love interest is beautifully written in this story. Without giving too much away there are to paths that Juliet can take and until she actually chooses the reader can not predict which way she will turn.

This story has everything you can want from a good read, a lot of emotion along with a little sense of humour, a sprinkling of romance, and a big cup of suspense!
I would recommend this book highly I cannot say a bad thing about this book it ticked all of the boxes for me. Give it a try!!!

Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts by Lucy Dillon

Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts is the first book I have read by Lucy Dillon. I was given this book to read by a client and on first glimpse I liked the look of the book, girly pink and white with glitter snow balls on the front. It looks like your typical chic lit book and then came the title of the book and this put me off. I am not really what you would call your typical animal lover and I would defiantly not put a book about dogs on the top of my to read list. All this aside I had run out of books to read so I thought I would give it a go.

**Plot**

The book opens with the lovely Rachel whose life in London is falling to bits loosing her job, flat and her heart is breaking. Rachel's aunt Dot has past away leaving her home, Kennels and her dog Gem to Rachel. Rachel is not what you would call a dog lover with her London lifestyle. As Rachel starts working with the Kennels and starts to help Megan who runs the Kennels to re-home the rescue dogs, matching them up with perfect owners. She must make a decision if to stay in Dots house and carry on running the Kennels ,or to sell up for a nice tidy profit and head back to her life in London.

The book weaves in new characters as the book goes on. We meet Natalie and Johnny, a married couple who are desperately trying for children with no avail. We also meet Zoe who works full time and looks after her two children Leo and Spencer and is finding things very difficult when her ex husband decides to give their children a Labrador puppy. Also we meet single Bill the doctor friend of Natalie and Johnny who is matched up with his perfect dog but one he didn't expect!

**Opinion**
This book is a well written book once you get half way through. The first half of the book is quite slow and I did at a couple of points think about just putting it down. It certainly didn't grip me from the first page. However I am so glad I carried on as the second half of the book was brilliant. The way Lucy writes about Rachel makes you really warm to her and you want to see her happy. It is not the best book when it came to trying to bring in the characters together. It felt like I was reading three separate mini books and then it was all thrown together which was a shame as in the last half of the book when the characters are all together the book is endearing. It was unusual to read about a different relationship which was between man and their four legged furry friends.

**Information**
This book retails at £6.99, but when I was in WHSmiths the other day it was on offer buy one get one free.
ISBN9780340919200

**Recommendation**
I would recommend this book but I would just have to make people aware that this book will not grap you from the first page. It really does take a while to get into this book but it is defiantly worth the wait as the way the characters and settings are described you do feel as if you are part of the story. I will be interested to read another of Lucy Dillion books to see if her other books are written in the same way.

My New Book Blog

Welcome to my new book review blog. As you will see from my reviews I am very honest in my opinion on book reviews. I am a big fan of chick-lit with authors such as Christina Jones, Rowan Coleman, Carole Matthews all hitting the top but I am also reading a few different kinds of books when they are recommended to me such as Twilight which I am sure you have all heard of as our new well know young adult books! I hope you enjoy my reviews any comments you wish to make feel free and any book suggestions I will take on board.