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

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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

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'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

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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.

A Merry Mistletoe Wedding by Judy Astley

A Merry Mistletoe Wedding by Judy Astley

Published: 3rd December 2015 (Paperback Edition)

Publisher: Transworld

Pages: 352

Available in Hardback, Paperback and on Kindle

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Blurb

It is almost a year since Sean and Thea met and it's been a roller-coaster ride: they're getting married on Christmas Eve!

Neither Thea or Sean want a big fuss - a simple wedding, with Christmas carols and just a few sprigs of mistletoe for decoration is all they need. But before they know it, things begin to get complicated. Trying to manage a long-distance relationship in the build-up to their Christmas wedding is one thing, but as one challenge after another comes their way, the happy couple begin to wonder if they'll ever make it down the aisle...

Review

A Merry Mistletoe Wedding is Judy Astley’s Christmas novel for 2015. It follows on from last year’s book It Must Have Been the Mistletoe, which I’d suggest you read first if you haven’t already and would like to. A Merry Mistletoe Wedding could be read as a standalone novel but I feel it works best as a sequel as you would miss out on a lot of information which really adds to the story if you haven’t read the first book.

In this novel Thea are Sean are planning their wedding which they want to be held in Cornwall at Christmas just like how they met. All they really want for their day is the beach, some mistletoe and each other but like any wedding they incur a number of setbacks which make them question if getting married really is the right thing to do?

Like Judy’s other Christmas novels this book has a fabulous cover which oozes festive spirit with the Christmas tree and all the twinkling lights. However unlike It Must Have Been the Mistletoe it didn’t feel like it was a Christmas novel at all. In fact Christmas only features in a little of Emily’s plans and right at the very end of the book. Despite this, I did really enjoy this book.  I loved following Thea on her journey through wedding planning with difficulties from her family and was hoping she’d eventually find her happy ever after.

Along with Thea and her wedding plans the book also features narrative from Anna who is on the hunt for a new home and Emily who is struggling with post-natal depression after giving birth to Ned her third child. I really felt closer to Emily in this book as we learn more about her depression and her fears of being snowed in again and something bad happening to baby Ned. Surprisingly it seems to be family friend Charlotte who makes the most effort to try and help Emily and these scenes were definitely my favourites in the book.

I really enjoyed this book and Judy’s writing style which is heart-warming and easy to read has definitely put Judy Astley in my “must read more of” for this year. Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley who sent me a copy to review. I’d rate this book 4/5.

It Must Have Been the Mistletoe by Judy Astley

It Must Have Been the Mistletoe by Judy Astley

Published: 25th September 2014

Publisher: Transworld

Pages: 349

Available in Hardback, Paperback and on Kindle

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Blurb

Thea's parents decide to host a big family Christmas in a house by the sea. even though they are, in fact, about to split up. Thea herself is newly single - her sister and brother are both settled, with children, homes and a future. But Thea's boyfriend has ditched her in favour of his pedigree dogs, and Thea can't decide whether or not she minds.

There will be copious food and drink, holly and mistletoe, lots of bracing walks and a wintry barbecue on the beach. If it seems an odd way to celebrate the final break-up of a marriage and the Moving On to new partners, no- one is saying so. But then no-one had anticipated that the new partners might actually turn up to complicate the sleeping arrangements.

As Cornwall experiences the biggest snowstorm in living memory, the festive atmosphere comes under some strain. Will Thea manage to find some happiness for herself? Will the mistletoe work its magic on them all?

Review

It Must Have Been the Mistletoe is one of the most Christmassy books I’ve read this Christmas. It has a beautiful festive cover and unlike many “Christmas” books I’ve read it’s actually about Christmas which was wonderful to read in the middle of the festive season.

I really enjoyed the sound of this book, Anna and Mike are sixty-something parents who have chosen to divorce after forty years of marriage. They intend to remain friends with each other and decide to spend one last Christmas together as a family. They’ve booked a cottage on the Cornish coast and have ask their three children Thea, Jimi and Emily and their families to join them there over Christmas.  As with all large family gatherings some things are bound to go wrong including being snowed in with a couple of unexpected guests.

I did find that this book had a slow start and to be honest I was not totally comfortable by Mike and Anna’s decision to divorce and seek new partners, it just seemed a really odd thing to do after a  long and happy marriage. It took me a while to get these thoughts out of my head and focus more on the other characters. Thea, the eldest daughter has just broken up with fiancé Richard who decided he prefers his poodle and his sister to Thea. She’s not really in the mood for Christmas this year but tries to embrace it for the sake of her family, can the cottage’s owner give Thea her sparkle back? We don’t find out too much about the other family members other than Emily seems to be a bit moody. My favourite character had to be Charlotte, so was so brutally honest and put her foot in her mouth on more than one occasion!

After a few chapters I was hooked as the full on family Christmas got under way. There was tree-decorating, carols, snowmen, board games and of course the Christmas dinner. I just loved all the Christmas details and what made it all the more Christmassy was seeing the whole family together as one unit despite all the bickering, moaning and fall-out of normal family life.

Surprisingly given the number of previous novels listed at the back this is my first Judy Astley novel, it certainly won’t be my last I’m hooked. I loved the details of the scenery and am longing to visit a remote cottage for my own magical family Christmas. I also loved the way she brought her characters to life, the felt very real to me with their ordinary everyday problems and the way she wrote the romance in the book was just perfect. This is exactly the kind of book I enjoy reading at Christmas full of family, romance and a little touch of magic!

I’d rate this book 4/5 and am looking forward to reading the follow up book A Merry Mistletoe Wedding.

Shopaholic to the Rescue by Sophie Kinsella

Shopaholic to the Rescue by Sophie Kinsella

Published: 22nd October 2015

Publisher: Bantam Press (Transworld)

Pages: 320

Available in Hardback and on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Blurb

To Las Vegas . . . and beyond!

Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) is on a major rescue mission! Hollywood was full of surprises, and now she's on a road trip to Las Vegas to help her friends and family.

She's determined to get to the bottom of why her dad has mysteriously disappeared, help her best friend Suze and even bond with long-time enemy Alicia Bitch Long-legs (maybe...).

As Becky discovers just how much her friends and family need help, she comes up with her biggest, boldest, most brilliant plan yet! So can she save the day just when they need her most?

Review

Shopaholic to the Rescue is the much anticipated next book from Sophie Kinsella, a direct follow on from Shopaholic to the Stars ( I believe, I have to confess I have not read this one yet…its somewhere in my book pile) which sees Becky and the gang head off to Vegas in search of Becky’s missing dad, Tarquin and Bryce. Can Becky save the day and find her missing dad as well as patching things up with best friend Suze?

As this book follows on from a cliff-hanger ending from the last book it took me a few chapters to work out exactly what had gone on in the previous book, although it didn’t take long to feel the familiarity of the main characters once again. I loved been back in amongst one of Becky’s madcap plans and this one is probably one of the more extreme, chasing round America looking for her dad’s old friends in order to find her dad and gain justice for Brent (one of the old friends).

As with previous Shopaholic books there are some extremely funny moments, my favourite from this book was Minnie riding round the rodeo ring on a sheep, I loved it!

 I did feel however that this doesn’t have that Becky magic from earlier books. Becky seems to have grown a little in maturity in her thinking and actions, especially towards shopping, which was good for her but took her away from the Becky I know and love.

Shopaholic to the Rescue has tied up all the loose ends from the previous book and for me it feels like a natural place for the Shopaholic series to come to an end. I will treasure the Shopaholic books for a long time but I would love to see Sophie Kinsella write more stand-alone novels as The Un-domestic Goddess and I’ve Got Your Number? are a couple of my all-time favourite books and I’d love more like them.

I don’t think this is the best Shopaholic book and if you’re new to the series I don’t think it’s the easiest one to start with as there are a lot of characters to get your head round, once you do however you will love them. It’s an enjoyable book which made me laugh all the way through and it’s the prefect light hearted read.

I like to give Shopaholic to the Rescue 4 out of 5 stars and would like to thank the team at Transworld for sending me a copy to review.

Blog Tour Review - Winter Siege by Araina Franklin and Samantha Norman

 

Winter Siege by Ariana Franklin and Samantha Norman

Published: 12th February 2015 (paperback)

Publisher: Bantam Press (Transworld)

Pages: 448

Available in Paperback

Order a copy from Amazon now

Blurb
It’s 1141 and freezing cold.

Gwil, a battle-hardened mercenary, is horrified to stumble across a little girl close to death. She has been attacked, just one more victim in a winter of atrocities. Clutching a sliver of parchment, she is terrified – but Gwil knows what he must do. He will bring her back to life. He will train her to fight. And together, they will hunt down the man who did this to her.

But danger looms wherever they turn. As castle after castle falls victim to siege, the icy Fens ring with rumours of a madman, of murder – and of a small piece of parchment with a terrible secret to tell, the cost of which none of them could have imagined . . .

Review

Winter Siege is a historical novel set in 1141 at the time of the Anarchy between King Stephen and his cousin Empress Matilda, daughter of Henry I. The tale is based on Gwil, a mercenary with a kind heart, Penda the young girl who Gwil takes under his wing after she is brutally attacked and Lady Maud of Kenniford, whose castle comes under siege from the feuding royals.

I have to confess that before being asked to be part of this blog tour I had never read any of Ariana Franklin’s novels, or even heard her name before. Having read one I can understand why she has such a following, Winter Siege is a tale which draws you into the lives of the three main characters and makes you emotionally attached to them. I would love to have been able to spot the point where Samantha Norman took over writing, however I found it flowed seamlessly from beginning to end.

I felt this book did have a slow start and it wasn’t until Gwil, Penda and Maud were altogether that I really began to enjoy the story as that was when we got to know more about the feelings of both Penda and Maud which was far more enjoyable to me the battle for who was going to be England’s ruler. My favourite character was Penda, I thought she made a brilliant male and female character and would love there to be a follow up book to find out what happened next to her. I loved the way she changed from being shy and frightened to being quite cheeky, especially with Gwil and also that she stood and shot her bow with the men which must have been pretty daunting for anyone.  

One thing that did bother me about this book was the over use of expletive words which were used in the dialogue throughout the book, so if this bothers you be warned.

Overall I found Winter Siege to be an enjoyable and will in the future seek out Ariana Franklin’s previous novels and look out for anything else which Samantha Norman writes. I would rate this book 4/5.

Thank you to Transworld for my review copy and asking me to join with this tour, please visit other blogs on the tour for more insight into this book.