Book Review - The Girls Guide to Getting Hitched by Sophie Hart

 

The Girls Guide to Getting Hitched by Sophie Hart

Published: 17th July 2015

Publisher: Bookouture

Pages: 312

Available in Paperback and on Kindle

Order now from amazon

 

Blurb

Rule number one: Keep calm and marry on…

When new mum and events planner Julia Crawford is given the opportunity to plan three weddings, she jumps at the chance. What could possibly go wrong? …

Forget bridezilla, Aimee’s future mother-in-law is the stuff of nightmares – hell bent on taking over the wedding entirely. Worse still, her fiancé, Jon, seems oblivious. Aimee’s starting to wonder if she and her groom-to-be are right for each other after all…

Body shy Debbie is on a mission. She’s determined to shed a lot of pounds before the big day. As the wedding inches closer, will the new Debbie lose sight of what’s really important?

Gill loves Mike and their blended family of five kids to bits, but with a house full of teenage hormones and her eldest, Kelly, struggling with so much change, Gill is feeling the pressure...

As the women bond over cake and a cuppa, can they each resolve their wedding woes before the big day?

Review

 

Having read and loved Sophie’s previous novel The Girls Guide to Falling in Love I was really excited to hear about her new novel The Girls Guide to Getting Hitched, what made this even better for me was the release date was a week before my own wedding so I was in wedding heaven reading this.

The Girls Guide to Getting Hitched follows the story of Julia Crawford an event’s organiser as she helps three very different brides to plan their big day, Aimee, Debbie and Gill. For those of you who have read Sophie’s previous book you will instantly recognise Julia Crawford and her husband Nick. I personally love it when authors bring back characters from previous novels as I love to see how they’ve changed, quite a bit for Julia and Nick. Don’t worry if you haven’t read her previous book (although you really should!) this book will make perfect sense on its own, which I liked from a new readers perspective.

Julia is a new mum who has just begun to think about going back to work when she lands a huge wedding planning contract with the prestigious Valerie for her son Jon’s wedding to the very sweet Aimee. With such a huge budget Julia just can’t say no and reluctantly enrols her son Jack into nursery for a few hours. Here she meets two more brides-to-be, Debbie and Gill and finds herself with a full on work schedule.

All three brides are struggling with the own pre-wedding issues. Sweet natured Aimee is being controlled completely by fiancé Jon and his overbearing mother Valerie. As Aimee struggles with letting go of her dream wedding she begins to feel out of control and eventually it dawns on her exactly what she needs to do.

Debbie is dreaming of walking down the aisle in the perfect size 10 dress (don’t we all!), with a huge amount of willpower and determination she begins to lose the pounds and becomes more confident, but will this new confidence land her in trouble?

Gill is about to walk down the aisle for the second time with her new partner Mike and their five children from previous marriages, but Gill is struggling to keep everyone happy and plan her perfect day. It’s made even harder when her daughter Kelly begins to feel pushed out by her mother, will this family find their happy ever after?

I really loved all the characters in this book, except Jon and Valerie whom I hope grow old and miserable together. I think Debbie was my favourite as I can identify with an obsession with losing weight, sadly I don’t possess that woman’s determination so walked down the aisle in a slightly bigger dress! I also loved the references to characters in the previous book as it was good to check in and see how they were,

I adored this book just as much as I have Sophie’s previous work, it’s the perfect mix of heartfelt emotion, humour and the trials of everyday life. The words just flowed so well making this an absolute joy to read, the only downside to it was I finished it far too quickly!

I’d recommend this book to anyone who wants a light-hearted summer reads, it’s just brilliant and Sophie please, please write another book soon!

I’d like to thank Bookouture and Netgalley for a copy of this to review and give this book 5/5.

 

 

Release Day Round-Up #3

Just three picks for my release day round up this week:

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

Publication Date: September 19th 2014

Publisher: Bookouture

Pages: 384

Available on Kindle and Paperback

Pre-Order now from Amazon

 

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.

 

I loved this book, see my full review here. If you enjoyed her previous novel then this is a must read.

 Twitter Girl by Nic Tatano

Published: Septeber 18th September 2014

Publisher: Harper Impulse

Pages: 288

Available in Kindle from Amazon

 

Meet America’s Tweet-Heart.

She’s network reporter Cassidy Shea, better known as @TwitterGirl, with more than a million followers thanks to her sarcastic tweets. One hundred forty characters that can take anyone down a notch.

But while brevity may be the soul of wit, it can also get you fired.

When a controversial tweet goes viral the snarky redhead finds herself locked out of the career she loves… and watches her boyfriend take a hike.

Alas, no industry values sarcasm more than politics, and Cassidy becomes a marketable commodity for Presidential candidate Will Becker, a squeaky-clean, stone cold lock to be the next occupant of the White House. This candidate is unlike any other; he’s the country’s most eligible bachelor. He’s also looking for a running mate, and we’re not talking about a Vice President.

Twitter Girl has caught his eye.

Cassidy finds herself swept up in a whirlwind romance that turns her into the next Jackie Kennedy and becomes the favorite to be the next First Lady. The country can’t get enough of America’s First Couple… will Cassidy and Will Becker bring back Camelot?

But an anonymous tip triggers her journalistic curiosity. Is Will Becker all that he seems? The search for the answer teaches Cassidy the meaning of love.

 

I've not read anything by Nic Tatano yet but this looks really good, plus I'm intrigued to read some chick-lit written by a man.

 

 After the Wedding by Roisin Meaney

Published: September 18th 2014

Publisher: Hachette Books Ireland

Pages: 400

Available in Kindle and Paperback

 

After a bumpy start, Nell and James have finally said 'I do' and everything seems to be falling into place. Nell is getting comfortable in her new role as stepmother to James' sixteen-year-old son Andy, she's finally mending fences with her father and she's ready to look to the future.

Then Nell's ex-fiancé Tim - her husband James' brother - comes back to Roone, a place he's never liked, and she begins to feel uneasy. As the summer days roll by, and Tim seems in no hurry to return to his wife and daughter, Nell is finding it more and more difficult to enjoy her new beginning.

But when the little island of Roone is rocked by the disappearance of a young child, Nell realises that life can change in a single moment. Will happiness be restored before the autumn comes?

I really like the sound of this book and this is an author that I've not heard of before, so that excites me.

 

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