Blog Tour Review: Relight My Fire by Joanna Bolouri

Relight My Fire by Joanna Bolouri

Published: 31st May 2018

Publisher: Quercus

Pages: 323

Available in Paperback and on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Rating: 4/5

Blurb

When Phoebe and Oliver had their happy ending, they thought the hard part was over. And now, with a five year old daughter, they are far from the blissful hedonistic lifestyle of when they first started dating.

Not one for giving up, Phoebe creates a sexy wishlist: a jar where they can ask the other for anything they've ever wanted in bed - or out of it. But with distractions aplenty, will they be able to relight the fire in the bedroom?

From mix tapes to 'sex jars', this is the naughtiest rom com you will ever read. From the bestselling author of The List.

Review
Relight My Fire is the follow-on novel to Joanna Bolouri’s hit debut The List from 2014, but don’t worry this is a great story even if you’re reading it as a standalone.

It’s five years on and Phoebe and Oliver are living together with their adorable daughter Molly. Things in the bedroom department have slowed right down and Phoebe’s had enough, she drags Oliver to her old therapist Pam Potter to help put the spark back in their sex life. They then embark on another sexual voyage of discoveries as the Sex Jar is introduced into their relationship. This brings plenty of fun and crazy situations but also means Phoebe must deal with some very strong emotions. When they’re done will the fire be back roaring, or will it have gone out completely?

Told from Phoebe’s perspective through her diary we get to learn a great deal about Phoebe and how she views the world. I find her a very endearing character because despite the blunt and sometimes rude exterior on the inside she’s a bundle of insecurities just like the rest of us. I just loved how she was so concerned about not messing up being a mum for Molly, the love she has for that little girl oozes of every page and that was one of the highlights of this book for me.

If your looking a similar book to The List with as mammoth amount of laugh out loud crazy sexual exploits then you might be a little disappointed, Relight My Fire although still being very funny has not near the amount of sexual content and its not as “out-there”. This book does give a much deeper insight into Phoebe and Oliver’s relationship and I really enjoyed that aspect of the book. I also loved the additional storylines in this book which added more depth to Phoebe’s life and the book.

Overall, I found this a great book full of funny moments which left me with a massive grin on my face. Well done Ms. Bolouri for another fantastic read, I can’t wait for your next book.

Thank you to Quercus for sending me a copy to review and for inviting me to be part of the blog tour.

Blog Tour Book Review - The List by Joanna Bolouri

Welcome to the second to last stop of the blog tour for The List by Joanna Bolouri, organised by Emma Louise in conjunction with Quercus. If you want to find out more out Emma Louise, check out her blog here.

 

The List by Joanna Bolouri

Published: 10th April 2014 (first published 5th December 2013)

Publisher: Quercus

Pages: 400

Available in paperback and on kindle

Order now from Amazon

 

Blurb

Phoebe Henderson may be single but she sure doesn't feel fabulous. It's been a year since she found her boyfriend Alex in bed with another woman, and multiple cases of wine and extensive relationship analysis with best friend Lucy have done nothing to help. Faced with a new year but no new love, Phoebe concocts a different kind of resolution.

The List: ten things she's always wanted to do in bed but has never had the chance (or the courage!) to try. A bucket list for between the sheets. One year of pleasure, no strings attached. Simple, right?

Factor in meddlesome colleagues, friends with benefits, getting frisky al fresco and maybe, possibly, true love and Phoebe's got her work cut out for her.

 

Review

The List has been a book which has been on my radar to pick up since it first came out, so when Emma Louise organised this tour I took the opportunity to join in and finally read it and I’m so glad I did. The List is a hilarious book which talks honestly about sex and relationships in a way which is not too vulgar or sugary sweet.

It’s New Year’s Eve and Phoebe Henderson is nursing a broken heart after finding boyfriend Alex in bed with another woman. After numerous bottles of wine and relationship dissection with friend Lucy, Phoebe decides its time to find out what she really wants. So she sets herself a new resolution with a difference. Ten things she’s always wanted to experience in bed but hasn’t yet had the chance.  In order to complete her challenges Phoebe enlists the help of best friend Oliver for some no strings, sexual fun.  So begins Phoebe’s quest for sexual enlightenment, along the way she encounters a few obstacles and gets herself into a couple of compromising positions.  So does Phoebe complete her challenge? Well you’ll have to read the book and find out!

I was instantly drawn to Phoebe, she says exactly what comes into her head, even though at times she realises afterwards she could have worded things better and been a little less abrupt.  I loved her chats with Lucy, the way they were so honest about everything, including the sex and how good or bad it was. They talked like you would expect two friends to, nothing held back, anything goes, which made for some very funny conversations.  The thing I really liked about Phoebe was despite coming across as confident and sure of herself on the outside, on the inside she still had a vulnerability about her, with real insecurities about ending up all alone, which for me made her really endearing. She is a real heroine for women today, a woman who isn’t afraid to go out there and get what she wants, a woman who doesn’t care what she weighs, how much she drinks, or how much she swears…which is a LOT!

This book is written in a diary format from Phoebe’s point of view and I thought this worked extremely well.  The book is spread across the year and at 400 pages you would expect it to take a while to read, but you’ll get hooked on Joanna’s easy flowing writing style and be finished before you know it. I kept reading just a bit more as I wanted to find out how Phoebe’s next challenge would work out. Some challenges went fairly smoothly and some were more disastrous but they were all really FUNNY. Throughout her year Phoebe’s encounters a number of sexual partners and some of them are definitely more frog than prince.

Now I cannot write a review of this book without talking about the sex. The best word I have come up with to describe it is HONEST, sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad and sometimes it’s just downright funny. It is described in such a way that makes it believable. Yes there is a lot of it and yes it is fairly detailed in some parts, but not in a way that makes you throw the book across the room in disgust. It is written in a way that makes you curious, because let’s face it we’re all curious about having better sex whether we admit it or not. So whether you embark on your own LIST or just live through Phoebe just enjoy it!

As a debut novel I think Joanna Bolouri has done excellent job in providing us with an honest and hilarious look at sex and relationships and I cannot wait to read what she writes next. I’d love a follow on to find out what happens to Phoebe. I rate this book 5/5 as there is nothing I can think of which I didn’t really enjoy, if you are looking for a book to make you laugh then this is it.

I’d like to thank Emma Louise for organising this blog tour and also Quercus books for sending me a copy to review and lastly to thank Joanna for writing such a brilliant book. If you would like to find out more about the author then you can visit www.joannabolouri.wordpress.com or follow her on twitter @scribbles78 where you can see just how funny this lady really is.