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 Review: One Summer in Tuscany by Domenica De Rosa

One Summer in Tuscany by Domenica De Rosa

Published: 29th June 2017

Publisher: Quercus

Pages: 362

Available in Paperback and on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Rating: 4/5

Blurb

Patricia Wilson's carefully composed ads for the writers' retreat she runs at her thirteenth-century Italian castle promise so much. But while the splendour of their surroundings and chef Aldo's melanzane never fail to wow the guests, huge maintenance bills and bad news from the bank threaten to close Patricia down. It's make or break time for the Castello.
Each of her seven aspiring authors arrives with the inevitable baggage alongside their unpublished manuscripts. But this August something is different, and soon lifelong spinster Mary is riding on the back of Aldo's vespa, and smouldering odd-job man Fabio has set more than one heart racing.
As temperatures rise, the writers gossip, flirt and gently polish their prose by the pool. But with ghosts, scorpions, and some unexpected visitors to contend with, one thing's for sure: neither the Castello, nor Patricia, has ever seen a summer like this.

Review

One Summer in Tuscany by Domenica De Rosa tells the tale of Patricia who is struggling to keep hold of her beloved Castello de Luna by running various retreats for artists. This summer seven aspiring writers have gathered at the Castello to learn from published author Jeremy Bullen. As the guests take up residency at the Castello some of their secrets become exposed and romance begins to blossom in the most unlikely of places, but will any of them achieve their dream of publishing the next best seller.

I loved the idea of this book, for me a writer writing about writing is a comforting thing, I’m not really sure why. Domenica De Rosa has brought together a varied mix of ten main characters in this book and given them all a unique voice.  I did find the first couple of chapters a little tricky to work out who was who but it wasn’t long before each character and their stories were easily recognisable.

Of all the characters my two favourites had to be Anna and Mary. Anna because she seems so unsure of herself and willing to accept how talented she is as a writer. She seemed to spend most of her time in Cat’s shadow, propping up her ego. I was longing for Anna to become more confident and see herself as the others did. Mary was a joy to read about, despite being in her seventies she has such joy and enthusiasm for new experiences and I was glad when she was able to grab hold of some happiness. Some other characters such as Sally and Dorothy seemed to add very little to the story.

There are some lovely descriptions of the Castello itself and the surrounding Tuscan scenery which along with Aldo’s delicious meals make the essence of Italy come through the book. I feel this book would make an ideal holiday read as despite being on a writing retreat the characters seem more like they are on holiday themselves with the tourist trips, huge meals and lazing by the pool.

I felt this was quite a light-hearted easy going read mainly because there were so many little dramas with various characters it became funny rather than more emotional as it was perhaps intended. I enjoyed Domenica De Rosa’a writing and can see myself picking up one of her books again as a holiday read as Italy is somewhere I long to go. If you’re a fan of Nicky Pellegrino or Santa Montefiore than I’m sure you will enjoy this book too.

Thank you to the publishers for inviting me to be part of this book tour and sending me a copy of the book to review.

Release Day Round Up #21

So its March and what do we get? Snow!! I'm  not a fan of snow as I'm just longing for some sunshine and more spring flowers in my garden. So anyway here are my top three picks for this week:

Bone by Bone by Sanjida Kay

Published: 3rd March 2016

Publisher: Corvus

Pages: 328

Available in Paperback and on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

How far would you go to protect your child? When her daughter is bullied, Laura makes a terrible mistake...

Laura loves her daughter more than anything in the world.

But nine-year-old daughter Autumn is being bullied. Laura feels helpless.

When Autumn fails to return home from school one day, Laura goes looking for her. She finds a crowd of older children taunting her little girl.

In the heat of the moment, Laura makes a terrible choice. A choice that will have devastating consequences for her and her daughter...

I found this such a compelling read and one which had me thinking all the way through what exactly is going to happen next and then gasping at what actually does happen. It's a book you wont be able to put down and one where you will definitely question some of your actions. My review is coming tomorrow.

What She Never Told Me by Kate McQuaile

Published: 3rd March 2016

Publisher: Quercus

Pages: 336

Available in paperback and on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

'I talked to my mother the night she died, losing myself in memories of when we were happiest together. But I held one memory back, and it surfaces now, unbidden. I see a green postbox and a small hand stretching up to its oblong mouth. I am never sure whether that small hand is mine. But if not mine, whose?'

Louise Redmond left Ireland for London before she was twenty. Now, more than two decades later, her heart already breaking from a failing marriage, she is summoned home. Her mother is on her deathbed, and it is Louise's last chance to learn the whereabouts of a father she never knew.

Stubborn to the end, Marjorie refuses to fill in the pieces of her daughter's fragmented past. Then Louise unexpectedly finds a lead. A man called David Prescott . . . but is he really the father she's been trying to find? And who is the mysterious little girl who appears so often in her dreams? As each new piece of the puzzle leads to another question, Louise begins to suspect that the memories she most treasures could be a delicate web of lies.

This sounds really intriguing and as its written in the first person I think it will be very gripping and intense. One I'm definitely looking forward to reading.

The Plumberry School of Comfort Food: Food, Glorious Food

by Cathy Bramley

Published: 3rd March 2016

Publisher: Transworld Digital

Available on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Verity Bloom hasn't been interested in cooking anything more complicated than the perfect fish finger sandwich, ever since she lost her best friend and baking companion two years ago.

But an opportunity to help a friend is about to land her right back in the heart of the kitchen! The Plumberry School of Comfort Food is due to open in a few weeks’ time and has rather gone off the boil. It needs the kind of great ideas that only Verity could cook up . . .

But as Verity tries to balance stirring up publicity, keeping their top chef sweet and soothing her aching heart, will her move to Plumberry prove to be a sheer delight . . . or a recipe for disaster?

Cathy Bramley fans will be pleased to know that today the first part of her new series The Plumberry School of Comfort Food is launched. It sounds just as yummy as her previous books. I'm longing to read a book by Cathy Bramley but I'll probably wait until the full book of this is released later in the year as I'm not a huge fan of  serial novels.

So that's my top three this week, which one is your favourite? Are there any other books you've got your eye on this week? I'd love for you to share your thoughts.

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.

 

 

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