Book Review - Saving Grace by Jane Green

 

Saving Grace by Jane Green

Published: 25th September 2014

Publisher: Pan

Pages: 400

Available in: Kindle and Hardcover

Pre-Order from Amazon here

 

Blurb

Grace Chapman has an enviable set-up, living comfortably with her husband, bestselling author Ted, in a picture-perfect farmhouse on the Hudson River in New York state.

Then Ted advertises for a new assistant, and Beth walks into their lives. Organized, passionate and eager to learn, Beth quickly makes herself indispensable to Ted and his family. But Grace soon begins to feel sidelined in her home - and her marriage - by this ambitious younger woman.

Is Grace just paranoid, as her husband tells her, or is there more to Beth than there first appears?

Review
I have read almost everything that Jane Green has written and have seen her style develop from basic love triangles to those with much deeper issues such as infertility and cancer, this goes in a slightly different direction and is verging on a psychological thriller type plot.  Ted’s new assistant Beth is determined that she will ruin Grace and she seems to have no limits to the measures she will take to ensure she succeeds.  Initially Beth doesn’t appear to be a threat to Grace as she seemed mousey and timid but gradually an incredibly disturbing character emerges which leaves Grace heading for disaster.

Initially I wasn’t convinced I was going to enjoy this book as there is a lot of scene setting and nothing much happens for the first third of the book and then it hits you.  So if you start reading and are not sure please keep going as the plot when it gets going is very gripping.  I also wasn’t too sure about Grace as a character initially as all she seems to do is spend her time making everyone around her happy which did seem to make her vulnerable and insecure making it easy for Beth to take over, I was glad when she finally got some balls and decided what she wanted.

I was left with a couple of issues which I felt were not addressed in the book, firstly why didn’t Grace get a second opinion when in her heart she knew the doctor was wrong and secondly what on earth happened to Beth to cause Beth to be the way she was?

This book is written in the third person from just Grace’s perspective. Personally I think it would have worked better been written in the first person then we would have gained more insight into how Grace was coping with her life if we knew her actual thoughts and feelings.  Also I would have liked some of the story to be told from Beth’s perspective so we could understand what was driving her behaviour.

There are recipes at the end of each chapter which I just found irritating, especially when the story was unfolding; I think these would have been much better in a section at the end of the book. 

After the slow start I did really enjoy this book and I’m sure many fans of Jane Green will love it. I rate this book 4/5 as I had a few issues with it, but it was still a gripping and enjoyable read which I would recommend to both fans and new readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan for sending me an arc copy to read.

 



Book Review - The Beginner's Guide to the Birds and the Bees by Sophie Hart

 

The Beginner's Guide to the Birds and the Bees by Sophie Hart

Published: September 19th 2014

Publisher: Bookouture

Available on Kindle, pre-order here,

 

 

 

Blurb

What happens in the bedroom doesn’t have to stay in the bedroom A refreshingly open and uplifting romantic comedy about friendship, love and sex. Sometimes you need to step out of your comfort zone in order to give a relationship a good dose of TLC…

Sex therapist Annie Hall helps couples put the fizz back into their relationships. It’s a shame her own love life is non-existent. When Jamie who works next door catches her eye, she can’t ignore the spark of chemistry.

Most men would jump at the chance to skive off work for an afternoon quickie with their gorgeous wife, but Nick knows Julia is after only one thing – a baby. Sex shouldn’t be a chore. Can Annie help Julia see that?

Newly engaged Zoe and Simon can’t keep their hands off each other. They’ve decided to take a vow of celibacy until their wedding night. Will Annie help them stick to it?

Roy and Linda have been married for over thirty years but she’s more interested in the family business than getting intimate with him. Can Annie convince Linda to rediscover her passion for Roy after all this time?

While Annie begins to work her magic with the three couples, she soon discovers that she’ll need to take some of her own advice if she’s going to let a new man into her life.

If you’re a fan of Tracy Bloom’s No one Ever Has Sex on a Tuesday and Lindsey Kelk, kick your feet up, turn off your phone, and sink into Sophie’s novel

 

Review

Firstly thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC of this book.

 

Sophie Hart’s first book The Naughty Girls Book Club was one of my favourite reads of last year; it was funny, heart-warming and engaging.  If you enjoyed her last book as much as I did then you will not be disappointed by this one. It is very similar, in that it has the same sort of premise where a group of unlikely characters come together and become friends. The characters are on the whole engaging and the story flows really, probably a little too well as this book was finished far too soon.

From the blurb I expected this book to talk heavily about sex, in fact  it doesn’t feature that much, Annie as the sex therapist talks to her clients more about how their emotional relationships are working rather than actual physical sexual problems.  I liked this as it gave more insight into the characters and their insecurities; this particularly came through with Ray and Linda’s relationship.

Out of all the characters I think Ray was my favourite, he reminded me of a big squashy teddy bear and I just wanted to go give him a hug and tell him everything would be alright in the end. I also loved Annie, she was so sassy and confident most of the time but she let her insecurities about finding love show a couple of times which just made me love her. The way the sparks built up between her and Jamie was really well done and I couldn’t wait to find out if anything would happen between them.

If you read Sophie’s previous novel then you are in for another treat with this one and if you haven’t read it I still recommend you read this as its honest, funny and very well written. I just hoping a third novel is not too far away.

Rating 5/5

Book Review: Crossing the Line (Jessica Daniel #8) by Kerry Wilkinson

Published: September 11th 2014

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Pages: 300

Available: Kindle and Paperback

Order from Amazon here

 

Blurb



Long before Jessica Daniel became a police officer, Manchester was once a ghost city after dark. Fear ruled as people were afraid to be out by themselves, the notorious Stretford Slasher terrorising its inhabitants.

Twenty-five years on and the media are feeling nostalgic over the milestone but Jessica has a new panic to worry about. Apparent strangers are being targeted in daylight, the attacker unworried about being caught. If only she and her team could find him…

It’s the coldest spring in memory and Jessica has old friends to look out for, plus secrets - so many secrets - that should have long been buried.

 

Review

 

Firstly I would like to thank Pan Macmillan for sending me a copy of this book to review.  I’ve not read many crime novels recently and this is the first time I have encountered the author Kerry Wilkinson and the Jessica Daniel novels. I didn’t realise this was book eight in the series so I wasn’t sure whether or not to read this but it says it is book 1 in “Season 2” and is a good place to start for new readers, so I decided I  would just jump and review this book as it is.

 

Jessica Daniel has been recently promoted to Detective Inspector and I’m guessing this is the reasoning behind the season 2 label.  Jessica is a very complex  character to understand  and as the book starts right in the middle of the action  it took me a good third of the book to understand a bit more about her. There are lots of hints about her past which did help me to gain more insight into her character but also gave away things which probably happened in previous books, so if you haven’t read them and want to I would recommend reading from the start if you don’t want spoilers.

 

I did feel that the first third of the book was quite slow in what was happening and it did take me a while to completely get into this book but once the case started to unfold  I was hooked, wanting to know what happened. Some plot twists were a bit unexpected and a bit abrupt but somehow it all linked together and formed a cohesive ending.

 

Crossing the Line is an honest look at the gritty Manchester underworld with a fearless and likeable female lead in Jessica Daniel. I’ve had a taste for Kerry Wilkinson’s writing and will definitely be back for more. Hopefully I will have time to start from book one and catch up before book nine appears.

 

Rating 4/5

 

 

 

Book Review - The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks

 

Published: September 11th 2014

Publisher: Sphere

Pages: 336

 

 

Blurb

 

They were teenage sweethearts from opposite sides of the tracks - with a passion that would change their lives for ever. But life would force them apart.

Years later, the lines they had drawn between past and present are about to slip . . . Called back to their hometown for the funeral of the mentor who once gave them shelter when they needed it most, they are faced with each other once again, and forced to confront the paths they chose. Can true love ever rewrite the past?

 

 

Review

 

This is the first Nicholas Sparks book which I have read although he has been on my list of authors to read for some time, so when I won a copy of this in a giveaway I was delighted, thank you Sphere and Little Book Café for this copy.

The Best of Me is the story of first love between Dawson Cole and Amanda Collier. They fall madly in love when they are teenagers but sadly are split apart when Amanda goes off to college and Dawson to prison. Years later they are reunited when their old friend Tuck dies and they come together to say goodbye. As the feelings come flooding back to them Amanda has to decide to give her love with Dawson one more chance or return to her husband and children.

I loved both of the main characters.  Dawson is such great male lead, very early on you realise just how much he seems to be driven by a sense of guilt and duty for events in his past and I think meeting again Amanda helped him to realise it was time to move on let it go. I bet he was an incredibly sexy brooding teenager so there is no wonder Amanda fell for him. Amanda seems to be a lovely person who is devoted to her family life even though her marriage to husband Frank does not seem ideal. When she meets Dawson again she is torn between following her heart and rekindling their love and her head telling her not to break her family up.

Dawson’s two cousins Abee and Ted for me added a comical touch to the book as they just reminded me of the two buglers in the Home Alone movie the way they could never quite get to Dawson and I’ll be interested to see who plays these characters in the movie.

This is a beautiful will they, won’t they story where you feel emotion of these two characters all the way through, which made my heart ache and the ending was not something I was expecting and it totally threw me and I wasn’t sure it was the ending I wanted but now I’ve thought about it for a few days it does seem a very fitting end to a beautiful love story.

After reading this I think I have caught the Nicholas Sparks’ bug and definitely need to read more of his work soon it’s magical.

Rating 5/5



Book Review - Hopelessly Devoted to You by Jill Steeples

Publisher: Carina UK

Published: August 14th 2014

Pages: 304

Available on Kindle

Order from amazon here.

 

Blurb

Meet Ruby’s fiancé, Finn. He’s gorgeous, thoughtful, successful and adoring – pretty much anyone could ever want in a man. In fact, he’s perfect. The catch? He’s just not perfect for her. But when Ruby finally plucks up the courage to come clean, Finn’s so furious that he misses his footing as he runs down the stairs – and suddenly, it’s not just his heart that’s broken!

When Finn wakes up, he can’t remember a thing. Not that Ruby dumped him – not even that they were ever engaged! It’s on the tip of Ruby’s tongue to come clean, but somehow, it never seems to be the right time... And as the weeks pass, she sees a new side to Finn. Arrogant and a shameless flirt, he’s irresistibly bad, and the chemistry between them is explosive!

It’s not that Ruby’s lying… she’s just withholding the truth. And seeing as things are going so well, perhaps there’s no need for Finn to have his memory jogged… The trouble is, there’s every chance that Finn might remember for himself!

 

Review

Firstly I would like to thank Carina UK for allowing me to read this via NetGalley.

 

To be totally honest I knew nothing about this book or its author before I requested it, I just saw that beautiful cover and was instantly drawn to it. I'm so glad I read it because I devoured it in one sitting, which doesn't happen often. The story really drew me in and I just couldn't put it down.

 

At first I didn't warm to the character of Ruby, she has this perfect boyfriend in Finn who is sexy, polite, considerate and even brings her flowers when its not her birthday but Ruby  feels she can't marry him because she doesn't love him. The first couple of chapters are just about Ruby trying to work out how to get rid of Finn and I just found Ruby to by whiny and annoying at this point, luckily after Finn has his accident  she changes and becomes a lovely caring person who I would actually like to be friends with.

 

I loved that this book had a couple of unexpected twists so wasn't as predictable as I thought it might be, this made for a story which I wanted to keep reading as I wanted to know if things would happen in the way I expected or not. Jill's style of writing flows really well and with a few unexpected plot twists and characters which became really quite loveable it makes reading this book a joy.

 

I will definitely be reading more of her work as her writing suits me perfectly when I just want a heart warming tale to curl up with. If you enjoy Milly Johnson or Katie Fforde then I'm sure you will enjoy this book. I give this book 5/5

 

 

 

 

Book Review - Stable Mates by Zara Stoneley

 

Published: 4th September 2014

Publisher: Harper Impulse

Pages: 288

Available from Amazon on Kindle

 

Blurb

Secrets and scandals, love and lust – when the ‘Cheshire Set’ are up against the ‘Footballer’s Wives’ the only common ground is carnal…

Flirting and fun seem the perfect antidote for Lottie's battered heart, and where better to find them than back in tranquil Tippermere, home of sexy eventer Rory Steel, the smiling Irish eyes of hunky farrier Mick O'Neal, and mysterious newcomer, model Tom Strachan?

But when landowner Marcus James drops dead unexpectedly, and the threat of his waggish wife Amanda selling the heart of the village out from under them looms large, things look like they're about to heat up in and out of the saddle.

With tensions running high, and the champagne flowing as freely as the adrenalin, is it any wonder that love catches more than one of them unawares?

 

Review

Thank you to Harper Impulse for the copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

“Stable Mates” is the perfect mix of horsey shenanigans, Cheshire glamour and flirty fun. Set in the villages of Tippermere and Kitterley Heath we meet an eclectic bunch of characters ranging from down to earth Lottie Brinkley, posh Lady Elizabeth Stanthorpe ,  Goth teenager Tabatha Strachan and Sam the stereotypical footballers wife. I loved all of these characters and although the main focus was on Lottie the other characters were all brought to life so well I felt like I was one of the Tippermere residents also.

Lottie was my favourite character, she’s like so many women enjoying the fun with hunky boyfriend Rory but deep down wondering if he is the one for keeps or if the she would be better with charming Mick the farrier or sexy newcomer Tom. I so wanted Rory to just admit to Lottie how he felt as all she wants is her forever man, just like her mother had with her father.

The book is full of little mysteries which all add up to a brilliant read where you just want to find out what is going to happen next. I really liked how little pieces of information were given so we could slowly unravel all the mysteries in the characters histories.

Fans of Fiona Walker and Jo Carnegie’s Churchminister series will love this book as it has the same mix of wonderful characters and frivolous fun, along with an interesting plot. I laughed all the way through this book and really hope she writes a follow up as I’d love to read more about these characters. I rate this book 5/5

 

Book Review - Dear Thing by Julie Cohen

 

Published: May 2014 (this edition)

Publisher: Black Swan

Pages: 482

Source: Library Copy

Available from Amazon in: Kindle / Hardcover / Paperback

 

“Dear Thing” is a real emotional rollercoaster of a book which tackles the topic of surrogacy; it’s so beautifully absorbing that you will not be able to put it down.

Ben and Claire have an almost perfect life; the only thing missing is a baby. They have been trying to have a baby for years and have gone through numerous tests and cycles of IVF, after their latest failure Claire decides she’s had enough and begins to a contemplate life without children. Ben is heartbroken and seeks comfort with best friend and single mum Romily. Romily in a drunken haze offers to be a surrogate for Ben and Claire, she found pregnancy easy with her daughter Posie  and would do anything to help her friends. Before she really has chance to let this idea sink in she finds she’s pregnant and there is no going back. When reality sinks in Romily’s feelings which she has kept hidden for so long are beginning to surface and could threaten her friendship with Ben and Claire and potentially wreck their marriage. This is the story of an impossible decision when there are two mothers and only one baby.

 

Surrogacy is not a topic which is written about very much but Cohen has done a wonderful job of highlighting the issues that arise and showing us both sides of the story. It really tugs at your heart as right from the first page you feel the heartbreak Ben and Claire are suffering and you can feel the despair as they face yet another setback in their dreams. Cohen has made the reader feel like they are also feeling the emotions of the characters and as the story is told from the perspectives of Claire, Ben and  Romily you feel like you are pulled one way then another.

 

I think Cohen has done a brilliant job in the portrayal of the two contrasting “mothers”. Claire is the perfect motherly type, she’s organised, caring, loves cooking from scratch and you can tell her whole focus will be on making “Thing” completely happy, the only thing she can’t do is conceive and carry her child. Romily is dis-organised, forgetful and more focused on her own life than Posie’s, but she has the perfect body for growing a baby. Both totally different but both want the baby so much.

 

I think my favourite character was Romily’s daughter Mariposa “Posie”, I just love that unique name and thought it suited this very intelligent and insightful seven year old perfectly. I thought Posie brought some light- heartedness to a book which was needed when dealing with such a serious topic.

 

The title “Dear Thing” comes from the letters which Romily begins to write to the unborn baby as a way to work out her feelings that are churning inside her. It’s through these letters that we learn more about Romily and why she makes such a huge gesture to her friends and I think they help us to understand her and the way she is with Posie.

 

This book is truly gripping and I loved that things didn’t always go the way you expected, which kept you just wanting more. This is not just a book about surrogacy and longing for a child, it’s about friendship, about finally letting go of the past and about realising what you thought you wanted is not always what you need. It is a book which will stay with you for a long time and one which I thing anyone who has a child should read.  Truly breath-taking, I give it 5 out of 5 stars.

 

 

Book Review - Spare Brides by Adele Parks

 

Published: February 2014

Publisher: Headline Review

Pages: 400

Source: Library Copy

Available: Kindle/Hardcover/Paperback

 

 

Spare Brides is Adele Parks’ first historical novel and as I have read most of her other novels I was keen to see how this one measured up. It doesn’t disappoint, she has really captured the essence of the 1920s through the eyes of four young ladies in their twenties.  The story follows the women as their lives change in the year of 1921.

Firstly there is Lydia; she has been married to her husband Lord Lawrence Chatfield for eight years. She has wealth, beauty and her husband spent the war safely behind a desk, so to the others she appears to be the lucky one. Lydia feels anything but lucky; she is longing for a baby and has been to countless doctors but has so far no success. She is also trying to come to terms with the guilt she is feeling towards her husband not serving on the battlefield. When she meets Edgar Trent the handsome war hero,  Lydia is instantly drawn to him and time with him helps her to escape her feelings of failure, guilt and resentment.

Sarah has lost her beloved husband Arthur and is coming to terms with her loss and the probability that she will spend the rest of her life as a widow.  Her sister Beatrice is twenty six and has never had a man of her own, she is fairly plain and so finding a man was hard before, almost impossible now that the War has taken most of them. She is longing to find her place in the world. Ava is single and enjoying not being tied to any one man, she spent the war being employed and is now looking for something to fill her time and occupy her mind.

 

Even though we experience the story through the eyes of all four girls I felt that this book was too heavily focused on Lydia’s story, which although I enjoyed I wanted more on how the lives of Ava, Sarah and Beatrice were changing. The changing circumstances for Beatrice interested me the most as I really felt sad for her and would have like to have known she was happy in her new situation.

I loved the way that Adele Parks has managed to write four women who are believable and are struggling with feelings which I’m sure many women at the time had. I think her portrayal of the men in the book was well handled, showing the emotional scaring which the war left behind on even the physically strongest men.

Although I don’t think this is her best novel it is still a brilliant read and I would recommend to anyone who wants a good novel set in the 1920s or something which examines friendship through changing circumstances. I hope that this is not the last historical novel which Adele Parks writes as I think the book was well researched and showed a true life representation of what these women went through. I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

"Waiting On" Wednesday - Saving Grace by Jane Green

 

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where book bloggers share which books their eagerly awaiting for publication.




Release Date: 25th September 2014
Publisher: Pan MacMillan
Pages: 400
Format: Hardback
Pre-Order from Amazon here.

Taken from Goodreads:

Grace Chapman has the perfect life, living comfortably with her husband, bestselling author Ted, in a picture-perfect farmhouse on the Hudson River in New York State. Then Ted advertises for a new assistant, and Beth walks into their lives. Organized, passionate and eager to learn, Beth quickly makes herself indispensable to Ted and his family. But Grace soon begins to feel side-lined in her home - and her marriage - by this glamorous, ambitious younger woman.
Grace becomes increasingly distressed, as nobody around her believes that Beth could mean any threat. Is Grace just paranoid, as her husband tells her, or is there more to Beth than first thought? Then an unexpected email from Beth's former employer changes everything. What is Beth really capable of? Can Grace get her life back? And what if she realizes it's no longer the life she wants?

 

I love Jane Green novels and this looks like another brilliant one, definitely on my must read list. Have a look what everyone is "Waiting On" this week here.

 

Book Review - One Hundred Proposals by Holly Martin

 

Publisher: Carina

Published: 25.06.2014

Format: Kindle

Available From Amazon now

 

I have been intrigued by this book since it first started showing up on people’s blogs and was mentioned everywhere. I really love the idea behind it: Is there such a thing as a perfect proposal?  I was a little scared to start reading this as whenever there is a book which has received a lot of praise I worry that I will be the one person that hates it. Well worry not, this book lives up to every good review it has been given and all the praise it has received, it’s heartbreakingly romantic and will take you on an emotional journey with two characters you know belong together.

Suzie and Harry are best friends. Together they run thePerfectProposal.com a website helping would be grooms to plan their perfect proposal. One day Harry asks Suzie what her perfect proposal would be, when she draws a blank, Harry embarks on a mission to find Suzie’s perfect proposal. He decides to do one hundred different proposals over one hundred days.

What is obvious from the very beginning is Suzie is madly in love with Harry and has been ever since they first met. Their friendship goes way beyond the boundaries of a normal male/female friendship, they sleep in the same bed, they’ve seen each other naked, and they know almost everything there is to know about each other. She doesn’t want to tell him how she feels as she doesn’t want to lose his friendship. He’s been her rock since her brother Jack died from cancer and she’s not sure what she would do without him. So the idea of having to watch the man she loves propose to her each day just for research is heart-breaking. Remembering to say no each time Harry asks “Marry Me?” almost pushes Suzie to the edge.

The romance between these two is so beautiful because it seems so real, how many men would you let see you wear a cow suit onesie? Not so many I’m sure. As they start their daily routine of the proposals you so want Suzie to say “yes” every time, however there’s always something holding her back or some mishap which gets in the way and all this just adds to the beauty of this story.

Harry and Suzie are both characters which you will adore instantly. Harry is so kind, funny and really hot that you just can’t help but fall in love with him. I loved the way he would just drop everything and go running to Suzie no matter what time of day it was, how can you not want a man like that?  Suzie is a lovely down to earth character, I love the way that she will let Harry see her when she is a total mess with no make-up on and those pj’s you hide from everyone, I love the way she is a little clumsy and has a habit of falling over at totally the wrong time. These two are just so at ease with each that they need to be together and when the tension between them begins to build I guarantee the only thought running through your head will be “just tell him how you feel!”

Although it seems obvious how the story will end you will be on tenterhooks throughout this book as these two never quite manage to make their true feelings known and you are almost left wondering if they actually will.  This book had me laughing, crying and shouting because I was so frustrated; it is a truly wonderful romantic book which will take you on a journey that you will not want to end.

Rating 5/5

 

 

 

 

Book Review - The Dress Thief by Natalie Meg Evans

 

Published: June 2014

Publisher: Quercus

Pages: 564

Source: Library Book

Available In: Paperback & Kindle

 

“The Dress Thief” tells the story of Alix Gower a young girl dreaming of working in Parisian haute couture.  Alix has a wonderful ability to be able to sketch copies of high end fashion items at just a moment’s glance. This skill gives her a chance at her dream job in one of the most prominent fashion houses in Paris; but also leads her into a world of danger and deception. After Alix meets the handsome young English journalist Verrian Haviland, Alix’s mysterious past begins to unravel itself and her life begins to fall apart.

I wanted to read this book as I am a huge “House of Elliot” fan which is set at a similar time but in London. However The Dress Thief goes way beyond a story of Parisian fashion. It is a story of mystery, romance, friendship and the everyday struggles of life.  Right from the start this book will grip hold of you and draw you into Alix’s story and it won’t let you go till the very last page.

Alix is a brilliant main character. She is obviously a talented and beautiful young woman whom the men around her find very captivating. I felt she came across as a little naïve when in some situations but I liked that because it made you like her, even though you didn’t always agree with what she was doing.  This book has many characters but they all add something to the story, making you feel like you are right there in Paris with them all.

This is a stunning debut novel by Natalie Meg Evans which has been beautifully written and well thought out. I loved the plot and the way it unfolded just made you want more and more. I was sad to finish the book as the character of Alix really grew on me and I’d love to find out what happens to her next. This book is definitely worth the read and I cannot wait until next spring when her next novel The Milliner’s Secret is released.

Rating 5/5