Weekly Wrap-Up and Stacking the Shelves (5th December)

Posted on 05/12/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

I don’t know where the weeks are going at the moment, I can’t quite believe that it’s Saturday again already and time for my weekly wrap-up post!

I’ve realised over the last few days that due to my physio schedule increasing I simply don’t have the energy and brain power to read as many books, or to write as many reviews or posts on my blog. I’m not sure yet whether I’m going to post as and when I can, or whether to try and make some sort of schedule so I still have regular posts. If any of you have any suggestions on how to manage book blogging alongside a hectic real life then please let me know in the comments. Any and all advice is much appreciated.

This week on my blog I’ve posted my usual WWW Wednesday, and Book Beginnings posts. I also did my monthly wrap-up for November.

My week in books:

I’ve read four books this week and have managed to review all of them.

(Please click on the links below the images to read my reviews)

Winter’s Fairytale by Maxine Morrey

Search for the Truth by Kathryn Freeman

Don’t Jump by Vicki Abelson

The Mince Pie Mix-Up by Jennifer Joyce

I’m also joining in with Stacking the Shelves (hosted by Tynga’s Reviews), which is all about sharing the books that you’ve acquired in the past week – ebooks or physical books, and books you’ve bought or borrowed or received an ARC of.

Books I’ve bought this week:

This week there has been a huge sale on Kindle books due to Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals and I went completely and utterly one-click happy! I was debating whether to post pics of all of the books I bought as it will show how out of control I’ve been this week, or whether I should just post highlights. In the interests of always been truthful on my blog, I’m listing them all. Please don’t judge me!

The first four books are books I already own, and have already read, in print but when I spotted them on sale as ebooks I decided to buy them in this format as well.

The Orange Girl by Jostein Gaarder

The Enchantment of Lily Dahl by Siri Hustvedt

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Janette Winterson

The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler

The following are all books on my wishlist that dropped in price over the past few days and so I couldn’t resist buying them!

The Story of a Lost Child by Elena Ferrante (sale)

The Novel Cure by Susan Elderkin (sale)

Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan (sale)

Little White Lies by Lesley Lokko (sale)

The Gallery of Lost Husbands by Natasha Solomons (sale)

Vagina: A New Biography by Naomi Wolf (sale)

Do Me No Harm by Julie Corbin (sale)

The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier (sale)

Eleven Days by Lea Carpenter (sale)

The Other Child by Charlotte Link (sale)

Winter Flowers by Carol Coffey (sale)

The Island Hideaway by Louise Candlish (sale)

Never Broken by Hannah Campbell (sale)

The House of Frozen Dreams by Sere Prince Halverson (sale)

The Happy Hoofer by Celia Imrie (sale)

Oswald’s Tale by Norman Mailer (sale)

Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde (sale)

Murder by Sarah Pinborough (sale)

Mayhem by Sarah Pinborough (sale)

Skellig by David Almond (sale)

Travelling to Infinity by Jane Hawking (sale)

The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma (sale)

All Day Long by Joanna Biggs (sale)

The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood (sale)

Coming Up Trumps by Jean Trumpington (sale)

Sugar Rush by Julie Burchill (sale)

26 Miles to the Moon by Andrew Males (sale)

Trick of the Dark by Val McDermid (sale)

Tonight the Streets Are Ours by Leila Sales (sale)

No Place to Die by Clare Donoghue (sale)

Learning to Speak American by Colette Dartford (sale)

The Hidden Legacy by G. J. Minett (sale)

The next four books are all Christmas books that I couldn’t resist buying even though I’m not sure I have time to read all the Christmas novels I already own!

Enid Blyton’s Christmas Stories by Enid Blyton (sale)

Wish Upon A Christmas Cake by Darcie Boleyn (sale)

A Wedding at Christmas by Chrissie Manby (sale)

The Christmas Cafe by Amanda Prowse (sale)

And the last two books that I bought this week were two books that I’ve had on my wishlist for ages and couldn’t resist them any longer. The Melissa Hill book was just released on Thursday and I’ve been waiting for it to be out!

A Diamond from Tiffany’s by Melissa Hill

Paulina and Fran by Rachel B. Glaser

Review books received this week:

Snowed in for her Wedding by Emma Bennet (ebook)

Callie’s Christmas Countdown by Julie Ryan (ebook)

Strictly Between Us by Jane Fallon (ebook)

As Weekends Go by Jan Brigden (ebook)

A Savage Hunger by Claire McGowan (ebook)

The Ballroom by Anna Hope (ebook)

Pretty Is by Maggie Mitchell (print book)

Viral by Helen Fitzgerald (print book)

The Silvered Heart by Katherine Clements (print book)

And I won a proof copy of The Missing Husband by Amanda Brooke in a completion run by Shazsbookblog.

Book Beginnings (4th December)

Posted on 04/12/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

Book beginnings is a meme set up by Rose City Reader. Every Friday post the first line, or few lines, of the book you’re reading along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Then add a link to your post on Rose City Reader’s blog.

My Book Beginning

the hidden legacy

The Hidden Legacy by G. J. Minett

November 1966: John Mitchell

It’s a quarter to ten when he reaches the school gates. Ten minutes, he thinks, ten minutes.

He’s have been here earlier, but he had to wait until his dad was safely out of the way. The last thing he needed was awkward questions. What’s with the duffel bag, son? What’s wrong with your satchel? What have you got in there anyway?

I find these opening lines very intriguing – I really want to know why this boy has a different bag to usual and what he’s carrying with him to school. My suspicion is even higher because he’s hiding it from his dad and has risked being late for school rather than have his dad ask questions. I’ve not read the synopsis of this book yet, I bought it because I’ve seen so many people recommending it on twitter, but I suspect this boy is carrying a gun to school and is intending to shoot his fellow students. The fact that the novel is called The Hidden Legacy would fit with this too – the idea that an action has consequences that can last for many, many years.

I bought this book this week and I’m so keen to keep reading now, I might have to allow myself a day or two off from reading review books so that I can read this one!

Review: The Mince Pie Mix-Up by Jennifer Joyce

Posted on 03/12/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

the mince pie mix up

The Mince Pie Mix-Up is a gorgeous festive novel. Calvin works hard at the office and thinks his wife has it easy with her part-time job in the local cafe and looking after their two children. Judy thinks her husband could help her out a bit more instead of coming home from the office and going out to football or down to the pub with his mates. They each think the other has a much easier life and one night, just two weeks before Christmas, they both wish to swap places and in the morning they find that their wish has been granted. This novel is in the vein of Freaky Friday and 13 Going on 30 and is a wonderfully funny novel.

I can never resist a body swap film or book, and this novel is up there with the best of them – I loved it. I think just about everyone at one point or another in their life has wished they could swap places with someone else; it’s human nature. I don’t think we ever think through all the consequences of such a thing happening though, which is what makes this novel so entertaining.

During the time they’ve swapped bodies some very funny situations occur and it makes for a very entertaining read. I found myself giggling quite a few times while reading this book. It was very amusing when Judy or Calvin would forget they were in the other’s body and would speak as if they were themselves. I loved how Calvin decided to ignore his boss’s swearing and replace all the swear words in his head with Christmas words, it was very funny at times and had me thinking I may well do the same!

I loved how it was obvious all the way through this novel that Calvin and Judy still love each other very much, they’ve just got set in their ways and have begun to take each other for granted. This wasn’t about a marriage that was in trouble, they’re just a couple that needed a reminder of all that the other does for them. It was a wake up call to what they’re missing out on or not making time for.

Ultimately, this novel is all about how everyone could do to put themselves in someone else’s shoes from time to time to try and understand life from another’s perspective. This works so well as a Christmas novel because this is the season where we’re urged to be kind to each other and to be more giving.

The Mince Pie Mix-Up is set in the two weeks leading up to Christmas and so is very festive. It’s a funny and very heart-warming novel, and I highly recommend it. I rate it 4.5 out of 5.

I received this book from Carina UK via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

The Mince Pie Mix-Up is out now and available from Amazon.

WWW Wednesday (2nd December)

Posted on 02/12/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. It’s open for anyone to join in and is a great way to share what you’ve been reading! All you have to do is answer three questions and share a link to your blog in the comments section of Sam’s blog.

The three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

What I’m reading now:

The Theseus Paradox by David Videcette

The Theseus Paradox by David Videcette

I’m finding this book to be such a compelling read – whenever I have to stop reading I look forward to getting back to it.

Synopsis:

We accepted it was terrorism. But what if we were wrong? What if London’s July bombings were the greatest criminal deception of our time? 7 July 2005: In the midst of Operation Theseus, the largest terrorist investigation that the UK has ever known, Detective Inspector Jake Flannagan begins to ask difficult questions that lead to the mysterious disappearance of his girlfriend and his sudden suspension from the Metropolitan Police. Who masterminded London’s summer of terror? Why can’t Flannagan make headway in the sprawling investigation? Are the bombers the perfect pretext to mask a different plot entirely? Is Jake’s absent Security Service girlfriend really who she claims to be? While hunting for the answers to the most complex terrorist case in British history, one man will uncover the greatest criminal deception of our time. Terror, extremism and fear of the unknown, Sometimes the answer is much closer to home.

make a christmas wish

Make a Christmas Wish by Julia Williams

I’m finding this book to be much more emotional than I expected.

Synopsis:

Last Christmas, when Livvy was knocked down in the supermarket car park she certainly wasn’t ready to actually be dead! For months now she’s floated on the edge of the afterlife, generally making a nuisance of herself.
And she’s not ready to go just yet! She’s furious about the new woman in her husband’s life and she’s worried about her beloved son who doesn’t seem to be adjusting to life without her at all.
This Christmas, Livvy is given one last magical chance to make everything right. Will she take it and give her family the perfect Christmas?

Beneath the Surface- Killer Whales

Beneath the Surface: Killer Whales, Seaward, and the Truth Beyond Blackfish by John Hargrove

I watched the Blackfish documentary a while ago and ever since have wanted to know more so when this book caught my eye I couldn’t resist buying it. I’ve only read the first couple of chapters so far but it’s very interesting.

Synopsis:

Over the course of two decades, John Hargrove worked with 20 different whales on two continents and at two of SeaWorld’s U.S. facilities. For Hargrove, becoming an orca trainer fulfilled a childhood dream. However, as his experience with the whales deepened, Hargrove came to doubt that their needs could ever be met in captivity. When two fellow trainers were killed by orcas in marine parks, Hargrove decided that SeaWorld’s wildly popular programs were both detrimental to the whales and ultimately unsafe for trainers. After leaving SeaWorld, Hargrove became one of the stars of the controversial documentary Blackfish. The outcry over the treatment of SeaWorld’s orca has now expanded beyond the outlines sketched by the award-winning documentary, with Hargrove contributing his expertise to an advocacy movement that is convincing both federal and state governments to act. In Beneath the Surface, Hargrove paints a compelling portrait of these highly intelligent and social creatures, including his favourite whales Takara and her mother Kasatka, two of the most dominant orcas in SeaWorld. And he includes vibrant descriptions of the lives of orcas in the wild, contrasting their freedom in the ocean with their lives in SeaWorld. Hargrove’s journey is one that humanity has just begun to take-toward the realization that the relationship between the human and animal worlds must be radically rethought.

the mince pie mix up

The Mince Pie Mix Up by Jennifer Joyce

This is such a fun read! I can never resist a body swap movie or book, and this one is everything you could wish for. Fab!

Synopsis:

‘I wish I could live your life. I’d happily swap lives with you.’

’Tis the season to be jolly but for Calvin and Judy the usual festive bickering has already begun! Judy’s convinced that her husband has it easy – no glittery wrapping paper, no playground gossip and absolutely no Christmas baking.

Calvin wishes he could trade in his obnoxious boss and dull nine-to-five job to spend more time kicking back with his kids – how hard can Judy’s life really be?

But after a magical mince pie mix-up, one thing’s for certain – by Christmas Day, life for Judy and Calvin will never be the same again. Perhaps the grass isn’t always greener after all…

A hilarious, feel-good festive read, perfect to curl up with this Christmas. Fans of Carole Matthews, Jane Costello and Mandy Baggot will love this story! As will fans of Freaky Friday or 13 Going on 30!

100 Poem Challenge Pamphlet by Jen Campbell

I bought this a while ago and have been eagerly awaiting its arrival. It was delivered yesterday and I’m forcing myself to read the poems slowly so I can savour them. It’s utterly beautiful though, I’m so glad I bought a copy.

Synopsis

On 6th & 7th October 2015, author Jen Campbell wrote 100 Poems in 48 hours to raise money for The Book Bus – a charity which funds mobile libraries across Africa, Ecuador and India. These poems were made into a limited edition pamphlet.

I’m also still reading A Notable Woman ed. by Simon Garfield.

What I recently finished reading:

Click the links in the list below the images to read my reviews.

The Widow by Fiona Barton

Winter’s Fairytale by Maxine Morrey

Search for the Truth by Kathryn Freeman

Don’t Jump by Vicky Abelson

What I plan on reading next:

Snowed in for her Wedding

Snowed in for her Wedding by Emma Bennet

Synopsis:

A lovely Christmas romance short read that you won’t want to put down
Christmas is coming to the little Welsh town of Tonnadulais, and the much-loved characters from ‘The Green Hills of Home.’ But this year it’s somewhat overshadowed by a rather special wedding taking place on Christmas Eve.
Local girl Gwen Jones is finally marrying her man, London publisher John Thatcher, and she couldn’t be happier. Though as her friends and beloved mother help her prepare for the big day, Gwen can’t suppress the little nagging doubt that John shouldn’t still be stuck working in London the day before their wedding. Has the city boy changed his mind about marrying his country girl?
When a huge snow storm hits, it seems John might not to be able to make it back to her, whether he wants to or not.
Join Gwen, John, and Oscar the dog, in this Christmassy treat guaranteed to get you in the festive spirit!

Even Angels Fall by F. L. Darbyshire

Even Angels Fall by F. L. Darbyshire

Synopsis:

After suffering an unthinkable loss, Abbey Miller and her family move to Leeds to rebuild their lives and start again, but the pain and grief that Abbey carries with her is impossible to escape. As she finds herself becoming increasingly isolated from her family, she develops a firm friendship with Lucy, Nathan and Liam, who introduce her to a brand new and exciting world, far removed from all of her problems. But will her new friends bring her the light hearted relief she has longed for? Or will she find herself getting drawn deep into their dangerous and intoxicating world?

The Accidental Guest by Tilly Tennant

The Accidental Guest by Tilly Tennant

Synopsis:

Soulmates don’t just fall from the sky… do they?
Hannah Meadows doesn’t believe in fate or destiny, or any of the other things people reach for when they lose control of their lives. That is, until a man arrives on her doorstep on Christmas Day begging for help. Hannah’s not the sort of woman to turn her back on someone in need, but this isn’t what compels her to aid the handsome stranger, nor is it his intense dark eyes, or the inexplicable feelings she quickly develops for him.
Something magical is coming her way, something that will turn her life completely upside down. Hannah Meadows may not believe in fate or destiny, but they seem to have other ideas…

What are you reading at the moment? Have you finished any good books recently? Any books you’re looking forward to reading soon? Please feel free to join in with this meme and share your link below, or if you don’t have a blog please share in the comments below.

Review: Don’t Jump by Vicki Abelson

Posted on 01/12/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

Don't Jump by Vicki Abelson

Don’t Jump is a work of fiction about Andi Stone. The novel is written like a memoir and is set out in a linear fashion. It is told in snapshots of her life, each story is a different length but it focuses on an aspect of her life and then it moves on to the next part. I loved how it was set out, it meant you could easily dip in and out of the book but actually, honestly, once you start reading it quickly becomes near impossible to put down as the writing is just so engaging.

Andi has worked as a comedian, and as a club and music promoter. She has been through her fair share of relationships and on the surface she seems to have a really fun life. I’m sure there were many, many fun times but there is a lot more reflection than I was expecting, a lot of nostalgia, a lot of wondering if she is doing the right thing, wondering if she is with the right man. She consults psychics and is very much led by what they tell her, especially with regards to men.

I expected this book to be very funny, and don’t get my wrong there are a lot of very funny things that happen in this book, but what I didn’t really expect was the self-doubt, the insecurity and the sadness. It’s the pathos in this book is what made is stand out for me.

The novel is ultimately a book about self-awareness, about how sometimes a person knows that what they’re doing isn’t right for them but somehow they can’t seem to stop. Andi often seems to be standing on the sidelines watching her own life descend into something she doesn’t want it to be but is powerless to stop it happening.

It was impossible not to feel a connection to Andi. She lives in this different world, surrounded by celebrities and it’s so far removed from my life and yet I could understand what she was going through, I could feel her pain. She felt like a real person to me and every time something went wrong in her life I was willing her to be ok.

Vicki Abelson is a very funny writer, the humour in this book is brilliant. There were laugh out loud moments. There were moments of toe-curling awkwardness that made me cringe and yet I still couldn’t stop laughing. I hope she goes on to write more novels, I’ll definitely be buying them if she does.

I’m so glad I got the chance to read this book; it was everything I hoped it would be and so much more besides. I rate it 4.5 out of 5 and highly recommend that you go buy it!

I received this book from the Get Red PR in exchange for an honest review.

Don’t Jump is out now and available from Amazon.

My November Wrap-Up Post!

Posted on 01/12/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

Monthly Wrap-Up

I can’t believe I’m writing my November wrap-up post already, I don’t know where this month has gone! I’m loving blogging more and more as the weeks go by and it’s become such a massive part of my life now, I can’t imagine not being a blogger. It’s absolutely second nature to me now to make notes as I’m reading and to write a review as soon as I’ve finished a book. I’m slowly getting to grips with WordPress too.

This month I added a new section to my blog… a shelf were I can add all my favourite books. Please check that out here. I’ve posted a list on there for now but plan to gradually add mini reviews of all my favourite books that I’ve read previously. This month I added two books to this shelf – the only new additions this year. It takes a lot to be added to my favourites, only the most special of books make it there. I’ve revealed the two books at the end of this post!

My blog has now had over 6000 page views and over 2500 visitors. It amazes me every time I check my stats to find that people are reading my posts, it really has made such a difference in my life to have found blogging and the support from everyone just increases it tenfold!

Thanks to all of you who have read a post on my blog, or liked or commented or shared. Thanks to all of you who have followed my blog, or on social media.

In November I read 20 books and managed to review all of them. If I didn’t keep a record of the books I read I wouldn’t have believed I’d read that many, I think blogging has got me reading even more than I was before! Please click on the links below the images to read my reviews.

An All-Time Favourite!

Time to Die by Caroline Mitchell

Out of the Darkness by Katy Hogan

How to Stuff Up Christmas by Rosie Blake

The Boy in the Bookshop by Katey Lovell

The Boy at the Beach by Katey Lovell

What Rosie Found Next by Helen J. Rolfe

Wendy Darling by Colleen Hoover

What Happens at Christmas by T. A. Williams

Lost Girls by Angela Marsons

The Single Feather by R. F. Hunt

Sky Lantern by Matt Mikalatos

The Winter Wedding by Abby Clements

Hello, Goodbye and Everything in Between by Jennifer E. Smith

Christmas at Cranberry Cottage by Talli Roland

The Jazz Files by Fiona Veitch Smith

Follow Me by Angela Clarke

The Secret by the Lake by Louise Douglas

The Widow by Fiona Barton

Winter’s Fairytale by Maxine Morrey

Search for the Truth by Kathryn Freeman

This month I have received books for review from authors I’d not read before but I now want to go back and read all of their previous books. I love this part of blogging, it’s got me reading more widely and as a result I’ve found so many books that I might otherwise have missed.

The best thing about this month though is that for the first time this year I’ve added two new books to my favourite books collection.

9781782641759

The Jazz Files by Fiona Veitch Smith is just such a delightful mystery novel, with a brilliant protagonist in Poppy and I already can’t wait to read the next book! I’m planning on buying copies of this book for friends who I’m sure will also enjoy it.

out of the darkness

Out of the Darkness by Katy Hogan is one of those books that arrived in my life in the most serendipitous of ways and I just fell in love with it. It’s a novel that made me sob my heart out, it made me think about things in my own life, but by the end I felt better. I felt like the novel helped me make sense of things and it made me feel comforted. I was so lucky that Katy very kindly sent me a signed copy to keep and I will treasure it. It literally takes centre stage on my favourites bookcase and it’s a book I know I will read again and again. I’ve already bought couple of copies to give to friends who I know will get as much out of it as I did, and I’m sure I’ll be buying more copies in the future. I just want everyone to read this book!

Blog tour | Review: Search for the Truth by Kathryn Freeman

Posted on 30/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

Today is my stop on the blog tour for Search for the Truth by Kathryn Freeman. Please keep reading to the end of the post as I have a giveaway to share with you all.

My Review

Tessa is an investigative journalist who has infiltrated the big pharmaceutical company, Helix. Helix developed drug that was given to Tessa’s mum as part of her cancer treatment but Tessa believes that the drug caused her mother’s heart attack and that this company is ultimately responsible for her mum’s death.

Jim Knight is head of Helix and after a disastrous affair with a work colleague he is determined to focus on the company. However, he finds himself increasingly attracted to the new member of staff Tessa! The attraction is mutual but Tessa is determined to focus on discovering the truth about the company.

This is the first novel I’ve read by Kathryn Freeman and it was a really enjoyable read. It was refreshingly different to other books in this genre in that it was a romance but with a really serious issue at it’s centre.

I was hooked from the very start of this novel wanting to know whether Tessa would discover answers at Helix before they discovered that she was working undercover, or if she did discover more about the drug whether it would turn out to be part of a big cover up. This novel was a bit close to home for me at times but it meant that I was willing Tessa on all the more to find out the truth so that she and her family could have closure.

The dynamic between Tessa and Jim was great too. They were obviously very attracted to each other but at the same time Tessa was not been honest about who she really is, and Jim was trying to reform Helix to really do good for cancer patients. The romance seemed doomed to fail at times because of all the secrets and potential for conflict. I was hoping all the way through the book that Jim would turn out to be a genuine guy, it made the romance storyline all the more unpredictable, and therefore better, that we just don’t know for a while what he knows.

I really enjoyed this novel, it had a great mix of things going on and it was a real page turner for me. I’ll be looking out for more of Kathryn Freeman’s novels in the future!

I received a copy of this book via Brook Cottage Books as part of the blog tour in exchange for an honest review.

Search for the Truth is out now.

Buy Links

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Synopsis

Sometimes the truth hurts …

When journalist Tess Johnson takes a job at Helix pharmaceuticals, she has a very specific motive. Tess has reason to believe the company are knowingly producing a potentially harmful drug and, if her suspicions are confirmed, she will stop at nothing to make sure the truth comes out.

Jim Knight is the president of research and development at Helix and is a force to be reckoned with. After a disastrous office affair he’s determined that nothing else will distract him from his vision for the company. Failure is simply not an option.

As Tess and Jim start working together, both have their reasons for wanting to ignore the sexual chemistry that fires between them. But chemistry, like most things in the world of science, isn’t always easy to control.

Genre: Contemporary romance

Release Date: 13^th August 2015

Publisher: Choc Lit

About the Author

A former pharmacist, I’m now a medical writer who also writes romance. Some days a racing heart is a medical condition, others it’s the reaction to a hunky hero.

With two teenage boys and a husband who asks every Valentine’s Day whether he has to buy a card (yes, he does), any romance is all in my head. Then again, his unstinting support of my career change proves love isn’t always about hearts and flowers – and heroes come in many disguises.

AUTHOR LINKS

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathrynfreeman

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KathrynFreeman1

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7373990.Kathryn_Freeman

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/profile/edit?locale=en_US&trk=profile-preview

Website: http://kathrynfreeman.co.uk

Giveaway

Please click the link below for your chance to win a paperback copy of Too Charming by Kathryn Freeman. This is an international giveaway.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/4be03017117/?

Review: Winter’s Fairytale by Maxine Morrey

Posted on 29/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

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This is such a lovely, heart-warming Christmas novel. It is set entirely over the festive period, which I loved! It begins a few weeks before Christmas and ends at new year.

The novel starts off with some heavy snow in London which prevents Izzy from getting home. Her ex-fiance’s best man bumps into her and invites her back to his apartment nearby while she figures out how she can get home. It’s all a bit awkward as the last time she saw Rob she had punched him in the face and accidentally broken his nose when he had had to tell her that her fiancé wasn’t going to be turning up to their wedding.

Izzy is a great character; she’s a really down to earth girl with a feisty side. She couldn’t see how attractive she was to men, and I adored the fact that she was a bit clumsy at times. She was the kind of person that we’d all love to have as our best friend.

I adored how the will they, won’t they scenario played out with Rob. The flirtation was so romantic, and all the misunderstandings that kept stopping them from getting together were believable. The whole novel was about them and I was lost in the romance from the very start. I was willing Rob and Izzy on to get together all through the book as it seemed evident that these two were just meant to be.

This novel won’t fail to give you that warm, fuzzy feeling. It’s just a gorgeous Christmas novel that will give you butterflies and will warm your heart.

I rate this book 4 out of 5.

Winter’s Fairytale is out now and available from Amazon.

I received a copy of this book from Carina UK via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Weekly Wrap-Up and Stacking the Shelves (28 November)

Posted on 28/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

It’s been another busy week on my blog.

I was very lucky to get to do an author interview with Lynda Renham.

I had a promo post and giveaway of The Lost Girl by Liz Harris.

I’ve joined in with my usual WWW Wednesday and Book Beginnings memes.

My week in books:

I’ve read five books this week and have reviewed all of them. (Please click on the titles in the list below the pics to read my reviews)

Christmas at Cranberry Cottage by Talli Roland

The Jazz Files by Fiona Veitch Smith

Follow Me by Angela Clarke

The Secret by the Lake by Louise Douglas

The Widow by Fiona Barton

Books I’ve bought this week:

The Past by Tessa Hadley

Playlist for the Dead by Michelle Falkoff

Beneath the Surface: Killer Whales by John Hargrove

Head for the Edge, Keep Walking by Kate Tough

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

ARCS I’ve received this week:

The Boy Under the Mistletoe by Katey Lovell

When Everything Feels Like the Movies by Raziel Reid

Seven Ways We Lie by Riley Redgate

This Secret We’re Keeping by Rebecca Done

Perfectly Broken by Robert Burke Warren

How bookish has your week been? Have you added any books on to your TBR pile? Have you bought a book that you’re particularly excited to read? Let me know in the comments and feel free to link back to your own blog.

Review: The Widow by Fiona Barton

Posted on 27/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

I was very excited to receive a proof copy of this book as I’d seen photos of the proofs on twitter and was intrigued. I managed to avoid knowing much about the novel, beyond the genre and the synopsis, in advance as I wanted to read it without any preconceived ideas.

Jean Taylor is the widow. She is the woman at the side who has stood by her husband, Glen, as he was accused of the heinous crimes of kidnapping and murdering two year old Bella Elliot. The novel is told from the viewpoint of Jean, and also the reporter Kate and the detective Bob Sparkes.

It’s interesting and refreshing to read a novel told from the perspective of the partner of the accused, of the person that is never normally heard from. Jean is an intriguing character because she changes throughout the novel. Sometimes she is meek and mild and kowtows to her husband, other times she is more empowered and will push back against the status quo. She wears many faces but mainly she is the widow, the one left behind. She isn’t a particularly likeable character, at times I felt that I should have more sympathy for her but she is so enmeshed in the character of Jeanie, whom she feels she has to play, that she has too many sides to her for me to like her. She is undeniably fascinating though.

There aren’t really any likeable characters at all in this novel, but just about everyone is interesting in their own ways and that kept me hooked wanting to know more about them. I wish we had seen more of Sparkes’ wife Eileen, as in the very few times she did appear, she spoke a lot of sense. Kate, the reporter, was very believable, she wasn’t likeable but she absolutely felt like a real person to me and I found myself wanting to know more about her.

The police were utterly hopeless in the investigation into Bella’s disappearance. They seized on one viewpoint and ran with it whilst failing to consider any other possibility. They didn’t ask the questions that at times I wanted to scream at them to ask. I did find this aspect of the book difficult because it was obviously important to the storyline that the police were incompetent but I was left feeling that I had to suspend my disbelief rather a lot in order to continue reading.

There is a part of me that can’t help but wish that this hadn’t been billed as a psychological thriller. This isn’t a suspense-filled novel, it’s not really a thriller either – for me, it’s more of a domestic noir; it’s a study in what happens in a marriage when one party is accused of a heinous crime and the other party is trapped in the situation. This is a brilliant and intriguing concept in its own right and I think this novel would have been a better read for me if I hadn’t expected it to be thrilling and twisty with an unexpected or unpredictable ending, and all the things that a psychological thriller should be. I found it easy to work out how the story was going to play out very early on, but had it have been a domestic noir I would have been okay with that because it would have been journey of how it happened rather than who committed the crime, but because it’s a psychological thriller it ultimately falls flat if it’s possible to spot in the first few pages how it’s going to end.

I really wanted to love this novel and I’m sad that I didn’t, but I did still like quite a lot of things about it. I can honestly say that this is an engaging read and I did find myself wanting to keep picking it up to read more. The writing style is great, it flows well. There is a lot that is good about this novel, and it’s definitely worth grabbing a copy when it’s published.

I rate this novel 3.5 out of 5.

I received this book from Transworld in exchange for an honest review.

The Widow is due to be released on 16 January 2016 and is a available for pre-order from Amazon now.

Book Beginnings (27 November)

Posted on 27/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

My Book Beginning

the marble collector

The Marble Collector by Cecelia Ahern

When it comes to memory there are three categories: things I want to forget, things I can’t forget, and things I’d forgotten until I remember them.

I love the opening to this novel as it just says so much truth; there really are three categories of memories. I have a really good memory when it comes to remembering the things I’d rather forget so this book really appeals to me in such a big way.

I bought this book as a treat for myself recently and really hope to have time to read it soon, especially now I’ve read the opening line!

Blog Tour | Review: The Secret by the Lake by Louise Douglas

Posted on 26/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

Today is my stop on the blog tour for The Secret by the Lake by Louise Douglas and I’m excited to be able to share my review with you.

Review

The Secret by the Lake is a richly-drawn, gothic novel. It is one of those books that hooks you in on the first page and doesn’t let you go even when you’ve finished reading! I started reading this late one evening and when I turned the last page it was the early hours of the morning; I lost all concept of time or where I was, I was completely and utterly engrossed!

Amy had a difficult childhood when her mother walked out on her and her dad. As soon as she was old enough she found work as a nanny looking after Julia and Alain Laurent’s daughter Viviane. Amy was very happy with the family, spending a lot of time in France. Then one day a phone call brings news that she must return home and leave the Laurents for good. Whilst back in England Amy gets word that Alain has died and Julia is now back living in England with Viviane and they are struggling to cope.

I try and avoid hearing too much about books before I read them these days as I prefer the element of surprise as much as possible. So when I started this novel I had no idea how spooky it was going to be, it was really unsettling to read at times. I tend to stay away from ghostly stories as I’m easily scared but it says so much about how great the writing is in this book that even when it was really frightening me, I still could not stop reading. It was so compelling and it genuinely was near impossible to put down. I actually finished reading this the early hours of Monday morning as I just kept thinking one more chapter and beforeI knew it, it was 3.30am and I’d finished the book!

I possibly should have guessed from the striking and very atmospheric cover that this would be a haunting novel. I particularly love how the woman on the front cover is holding the umbrella which causes her to form the shape of a key, and a lot of the mystery in this novel comes from a locked room. The cover perfectly captures the essence of this book.

The wallpaper in the locked room is yellow, and Caroline was locked in there because people said she was crazy and out of control. It seems to be referencing Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper, and possibly touching on the idea of the madwoman in the attic too, which straight away ramps up the claustrophobia surrounding this room and causes you to wonder what happened there, and what happened to Caroline. The descriptions of how grotesque the wallpaper looked as it was coming away from the wall genuinely repulsed me and made me shiver! The novel also had a feel of Du Maurier’s Rebecca about it too, the creepy atmosphere, the secret of what had happened before Amy arrived.

I love how the lake that features so strongly in this novel, was almost a character in its own right. That body of water held so many secrets and have so many stories to tell, but the dense fog that often covered it was suppressing the lake, the village, the secrets and some of the people who lived around it.

I loved Amy, I thought she was a great character who developed a real sense of tenacity as the book progressed. She just wanted to help and assist where she could, she was determined to find out what had happened to Caroline and to find a way to make Julia feel better. I liked that although Amy fell for Daniel quickly, she still kept things on her terms and she didn’t become a simpering, meek character because she’d found a man. Daniel seemed to give Amy strength, he gave her space to escape to but it never took away from who she was.

I have read a couple of Louise Douglas’ previous novels but I’m now definitely going to buy the ones I haven’t read, I feel sure I’ve just found a new favourite author!

This is a beautifully haunting novel that will have you hooked from the first page to the last! I rate this novel 5 out of 5 and highly recommend it.

I received this book from Transworld/Black Swan via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

The Secret by the Lake is out now and available to buy from Amazon.

Blurb

A SISTER’S SECRET
But Amy finds something unsettling about the cottage by the lake. This is where the children’s mother spent her childhood – and the place where her sister disappeared mysteriously at just seventeen.

A WEB OF LIES
Soon Amy becomes tangled in the missing sister’s story as dark truths begin rising to the surface. But can Amy unlock the secrets of the past before they repeat themselves?

About the Author

Louise-Douglas-Author-Image

Louise was born in Sheffield, but has lived in Somerset since she was 18. She has three grown up sons and lives with her husband Kevin. The Secret By The Lake is Louise’s sixth novel and she currently writes around her full time job.

In her spare time, Louise loves walking with her two dogs in the Mendip Hills, meeting up with her friends and she’s also an avid reader.

Author Links:

Website: www.louisedouglas.co.uk

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Louise-Douglas-Author

Twitter: www.twitter.com/LouiseDouglas3

WWW Wednesday (25 November)

Posted on 25/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

The three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

What I’m reading now:

The Widow by Fiona Barton

(Due to be published 14th January 2016)

Blurb:

We’ve all seen him: the man – the monster – staring from the front page of every newspaper, accused of a terrible crime.
But what about her: the woman who grips his arm on the courtroom stairs – the wife who stands by him?
Jean Taylor’s life was blissfully ordinary. Nice house, nice husband. Glen was all she’d ever wanted: her Prince Charming.
Until he became that man accused, that monster on the front page. Jean was married to a man everyone thought capable of unimaginable evil.
But now Glen is dead and she’s alone for the first time, free to tell her story on her own terms.
Jean Taylor is going to tell us what she knows.

Don’t Jump by Vicki Abelson

(Out now)

Blurb:

Don’t Jump, chronicles a woman’s quest to find her place and purpose amidst sex, drugs, rock ‘n’ roll and celebrity. It’s a story of unfulfilled potential, addiction, and bad behavior. Ultimately, it s a story of redemption, told with levity and a wicked sense of fun.
Don’t Jump takes us backstage and off-screen with a world famous athlete, rockers, movie stars, and some of the biggest names in comedy. A unique female perspective,
It’s an inside view from an outsider. From the kings of late night, to America’s number 1 shock jock, to the top sitcom earners of all time, we glimpse their humanity, previously unexposed.
Andi’s story drives Don’t Jump her descent and her resurrection. The celebrities who populate her life add spice and flavor but, it’s Andi’s perceptions that fuel the narrative. Smart, sassy and sexy, she projects confidence and success. But beneath her cool exterior, she knows she’s “simple, boring and fat.”
Seeking solutions for her disintegrating marriage, tumultuous show biz ups and downs, her slow and painful recovery, and mid-life transition, Don’t Jump explores Andi’s journey to make her life count.

Search for the Truth by Kathryn Freeman

(Out now)

Blurb:

Sometimes the truth hurts …
When journalist Tess Johnson takes a job at Helix pharmaceuticals, she has a very specific motive. Tess has reason to believe the company are knowingly producing a potentially harmful drug and, if her suspicions are confirmed, she will stop at nothing to make sure the truth comes out.
Jim Knight is the president of research and development at Helix and is a force to be reckoned with. After a disastrous office affair he’s determined that nothing else will distract him from his vision for the company. Failure is simply not an option.
As Tess and Jim start working together, both have their reasons for wanting to ignore the sexual chemistry that fires between them. But chemistry, like most things in the world of science, isn’t always easy to control.

I’m also still reading from last week:

A Notable Woman ed. by Simon Garfield

Winter’s Fairytale by Maxine Morrey

Bossypants by Tina Fey

What I recently finished reading:

(Click the titles in the list below the pics to read my reviews and to find out more about the books)

Hello, Goodbye an Everything in Between by Jennifer E. Smith

Christmas at Cranberry Cottage by Talli Roland

Follow Me by Angela Clarke

The Jazz Files by Fiona Veitch Smith

The Secret by the Lake by Louise Douglas (I’m on the blog tour for this novel tomorrow so my review will be posted then. I can tell you that I loved it though!)

What I plan on reading next:

Aside from reading review books to order of either publication date or a date agreed with the publisher/author, I tend not to plan what I’ll be reading next. The following books are the ones that are jumping out to me the most as I write this post and as they’re all review books I’ll definitely be reading them at some point in the next few weeks.

When We Were by Alexandra Diaz

(Out now)

Blurb:

No one messes with Whitney Blaire or her friends, which is why she can’t help but let it slip that someone spotted Tara’s boyfriend making out with one of the guy cheerleaders.
Even after spending hours training for her marathon, down-to-earth Tara can’t outrun the rumors about the boyfriend she thought was perfect.
Pinkie, the rock and “Big Sister” of their inseparable group, just wants things to stay exactly the way they are…
…but that’s not possible when new-girl Riley arrives in school and changes everything.
Suddenly Tara starts to feel things she’s never felt before—for anyone—while Whitney Blaire tries to convince her that this new girl is Trouble. Meanwhile, Pinkie’s world begins to crumble as she begins to suspect that the friends she depends on are not the girls she thought she knew. Can friendship survive when all the rules are broken?

The Mince Pie Mix-Up by Jennifer Joyce

(Out Now)

Blurb:

‘I wish I could live your life. I’d happily swap lives with you.’

Calvin wishes he could trade in his obnoxious boss and dull nine-to-five job to spend more time kicking back with his kids – how hard can Judy’s life really be?

But after a magical mince pie mix-up, one thing’s for certain – by Christmas Day, life for Judy and Calvin will never be the same again. Perhaps the grass isn’t always greener after all…

A Christmas Cracker by Trisha Ashley

(Out now)

Blurb:

A WONDERFUL STORY with a great BIG HEART. This is Trisha at her best.

This Christmas is about to go off with a bang!

Things can’t possibly get worse for Tabby. Framed for a crime she didn’t commit, she suddenly finds herself without a job. Then to make matters worse, Tabby’s boyfriend dumps her and gives her cat away to a shelter.

But rescue comes in the form of kindly Mercy. A master of saving waifs and strays, Mercy wants Tabby to breathe new flair into her ailing cracker business. Together, they’ll save Marwood’s Magical Christmas Crackers.

But someone has other ideas. Mercy’s nephew Randal thinks Tabby’s a fraudster. Stubborn, difficult and very attractive, her future depends upon winning him round. But it’s that time of the year when miracles really can happen. Standing under the mistletoe, Tabby’s Christmas is set to be one that she will never forget . . .

A Christmas Romance by Amy Perfect (Lynda Renham)

(Out now)

I have an interview with Lynda Renham on my blog today, please check that out here.

Blurb:

Romance is the last thing on Frankie Bell’s mind as she gets ready for Christmas in the English village of Little Perran. It’s going to be a quiet affair once the annual Great Little Perran Christmas Bake Off cake competition is over, with Frankie, and her little dog Buster, tucked up warmly in Primrose Cottage. Fate, however, has other plans and Little Perran is thrown into turmoil when the film star, Roux Lockhart, comes to stay.

The spirit of the season weaves its magic and a freak snow storm that blows in a surprise visitor. Frankie discovers love from an unexpected quarter, but can she trust it? And is someone cheating with their Christmas cake?

A delightful Christmas love story to be enjoyed with a mug of hot chocolate and a roaring log fire.

Author Interview with Lynda Renham

Posted on 25/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

I was very lucky to have the opportunity to interview the lovely Lynda Renham recently. Lynda has got a new Christmas novella out, A Christmas Romance, written under the pseudonym Amy Perfect. So, I took the opportunity to ask about her writing routine but also what Christmas is like for her.

Tell me a little bit about yourself.

My name is Lynda Renham and I write romantic comedies. I recently released a Christmas novella titled ‘A Christmas Romance under the name of Amy Perfect. It’s full of romance and festive spirit. I loved writing it so much.

What is your writing routine?

Oh dear! Truthfully? I have my own writing room known as ‘The Beach Hut’ At 9 in the morning Bendy and I wander in. Bendy is my cat and constant companion during the day. It’s really quite disgraceful how we faff about. Bendy will spend a bit of time playing with the rug while I while away the time on Facebook. I may then move onto Twitter and Bendy will move onto the wicker trunk and have a good scratch. By now it is 11 and we are both in need of distraction. So he has treats and I have a mince pie with a mug of coffee. Then we go back and attempt some serious stuff. Bendy usually go to sleep and I attempt to write. Although, this is interspersed with trips to the fridge as I find food really helps with the writing process. I’m a terrible procrastinator that I am amazed I’ve written nine books in less than five years.

What inspired you to write a Christmas book?

Oh, I have wanted to write a Christmas book for years. Every August I say I’m going to write one but I never seem to find the time. This year, however, I developed writer’s block while trying to write my new comedy romance. I stopped and had a go at a Christmas novella. This became ‘A Christmas Romance’ which I adored writing. It’s full of romance and Christmas spirit.

How do you get in the Christmas spirit early in order to write a festive book

We don’t put our Christmas tree up until Christmas Eve so I think I can safely say I’m not one of those people who gets into the spirit of Christmas early, aside of course, from eating mince pies and I start very early with those and continue way past Christmas. But as I wanted to write a book full of Christmas spirit and merriment I had to play lots of Christmas songs which very quickly put me in the mood. In fact so much so that now it feels like Christmas has been and gone ☺

What’s your favourite thing about Christmas?

I live in a small village so there are a lot of Christmas parties. I also love the feel of Christmas in the village. The lighting of the tree on the village green and the Christmas fete. My Christmas novel is very much based on my village. Christmas in a village is a very warm, cosy affair. I enjoy buying and giving presents. Although I tend to avoid the shops and do most of my shopping online, which is easier. I also love mince pies, have I told you that already, chestnuts and Christmas cards.

What is a Christmas like at your house?

Busy, although this year my husband and I are spending Christmas Day together but the weeks before that I have my family coming. On Boxing Day my stepchildren come with their children and a few days after Boxing Day I have my husband’s family visit. There will be nine of us that day. I will cook and I enjoy it. Family gatherings are lovely and of course there will be no shortage of mince pies.

Do you have Christmas traditions?

Aside from eating mince pies? No, Not really. We take each year as it comes. Although the village has traditions like the tree lighting, carol services, and so on.

What are your favourite Christmas films, books and songs?

My favourite Carol is ‘Silent Night’ and I played it a lot while writing the Christmas novella. I love Michael Bublé’s Christmas songs. They really cheer me up and get me in the mood for Christmas. I love ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Dickins. I don’t really have a favourite film.

What are you reading at the moment?

I’m reading ‘Fools Gold’ By Zana Bell. I haven’t got very far but I’m enjoying it.

How can people connect with you on social media?

I have a Facebook author page and am on Twitter. Also I can be reached through my blog www.renham.co.uk

Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1X4Er1p

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lyndarenham

Thank you very much, Lynda for answering my questions.

I will be reading and reviewing A Christmas Romance on my blog in a couple of weeks time so look out for that.

A Christmas Romance is out now and is available from Amazon.

christmasrom2

Lynda Renham is also the author of Fifty Shades of Roxie Brown

RoxieBrown

Review: Follow Me by Angela Clarke

Posted on 24/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

Follow Me by Angela Clarke

Freddie is fed up with her life, she is trying hard to make it as a journalist but has spent three years writing for free and is desperate to find a way to get paid for her work. One day while working a shift at a coffee shop she spots an old friend, Nas, in amongst a group of people. Freddie finds a way to follow Nas and ends up in the middle of an horrific murder scene. Nas covers for Freddie but she ultimately gets found out, though when the murder appears to be linked to twitter Freddie ends up being hired by the police as a social media consultant.

The killer tweets as Apollyon. He tweets coded messages and initially only follows one person despite his follower count growing at an incredible rate. The murders were gruesome and made me feel really quite sick. Freddie’s shock at each of the crime scenes, and the terror she felt each time apollyon tweeted was tangible, there were times when I felt like I was right there with her and I could hardly breathe either.

I expected this book to be terrifying, I was actually a little scared to even start reading it if I’m being completely honest. I’ve been on social media for years, I’ve shared details of my life on there so the idea of a serial killer finding their next target on twitter sounds so scary. This novel was actually more creepy than terrifying but it really does get under your skin as the tension ramps up. It was very unsettling and unnerving and it does get more scary as it goes along. It’s cleverly written because you initially think this would never happen to you because you’re careful with what you tweet and then you begin to see how Apollyon is finding his victims and it’s insidious how the fear gets to you.

None of the characters in this novel were particularly likeable but I don’t think characters have to be likeable for a book to be great; it works really well in this novel because it causes you to become suspicious of everyone. I have to admit that I did develop a soft spot for Freddie over the course of the novel; it felt like she was so brash because it was her way of protecting herself and pushing people away but as a result she was often misunderstood, which then led to her being more brash. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I did guess who the murderer was before it was revealed but only a little while before, and even then I was doubting myself as there are so many red herrings and twists and turns that it’s impossible to be sure about who the killer is. I think I’d suspected just about ever person in this book by the end! I had to keep reminding myself to breath whilst reading the last few chapters, it was incredibly tense!

This is the such a good, contemporary psychological thriller and I highly recommend it. I rate this book 4 out of 5.

Follow Me is due to be published on 3rd December but can be pre-ordered now from Amazon.

I received this book from Avon via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Promo Post & Giveaway: The Lost Girl by Liz Harris

Posted on 24/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

9781781892363

Today on my blog I have a promo post showcasing Liz Harris‘s new novel The Lost Girl. Please keep reading to the end as the tour hosts, Brook Cottage Books, are running a wonderful giveaway.

Blurb

What if you were trapped between two cultures?

Life is tough in 1870s Wyoming. But it’s tougher still when you’re a girl who looks Chinese but speaks like an American.

Orphaned as a baby and taken in by an American family, Charity Walker knows this only too well. The mounting tensions between the new Chinese immigrants and the locals in the mining town of Carter see her shunned by both communities.

When Charity’s one friend, Joe, leaves town, she finds herself isolated. However, in his absence, a new friendship with the only other Chinese girl in Carter makes her feel like she finally belongs somewhere.

But, for a lost girl like Charity, finding a place to call home was never going to be that easy …

Genre: Historical Romantic Fiction

Release Date: 16^th October, 2015

Publisher: Choc Lit

BUY LINKS

AMAZON UK

AMAZON US

About the Author

ABOUT LIZ HARRIS

Liz Harris lives south of Oxford. Her debut novel was THE ROAD BACK (US Coffee Time & Romance Book of 2012), followed by A BARGAIN STRUCK (shortlisted for the RoNA Historical 2013), EVIE UNDERCOVER, THE ART OF DECEPTION and A WESTERN HEART. All of her novels, which are published by Choc Lit, have been shortlisted in their categories in the Festival of Romantic Fiction. In addition, Liz has had several short stories published in anthologies. Her interests are theatre, travelling, reading, cinema and cryptic crosswords.

You can find Liz at the following links:

Giveaway Time!

Brooke Cottage Books are offering a wonderful giveaway where you have the chance to win an e-copy of this very book. Please click on the link below to enter!

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/4be03017118/?

Blog tour | Review: The Jazz Files by Fiona Veitch Smith

Posted on 23/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

9781782641759

Today, I’m thrilled that it’s my stop on the blog tour for the fabulous The Jazz files by Fiona Veitch Smith.

My Review

The Jazz Files is a wonderful novel. From the moment I first saw the cover I was very keen to read the book, it’s such an eye-catching and memorable cover. The novel then opens with a poem by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, which meant it immediately appealed to me as she is one of my favourite writers. I was sure that I was going to be in for a real treat with this book and I was absolutely right.

Poppy Denby arrives in London to look after her ailing Aunt Dot, who was a part of the suffragette movement. Dot quickly encourages Poppy to go out and find herself a career. Poppy finds herself a job as an editorial assistant at The Daily Globe but is soon working as an investigative journalist after a reporter falls to his death in the newsroom.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved how spirited Poppy was, and her Aunt Dot was such a character. I really enjoyed the flashbacks to 1913 and all the references to the suffragette movement as it’s such a fascinating period in history. Smith acknowledges in the notes for this book that she played with the timeline of real events ever so slightly but it doesn’t affect your reading of the novel at all; there is so much truth and believability in this novel, it is impossible not to enjoy it. I love how the struggles that women had gone through, and were still going through, run through this book, and yet it remains such a celebration of what women were beginning to achieve. The female characters are at the forefront of this story; they all have such tenacity to achieve their goals that you just so want them to succeed and you can’t fail to admire them.

I loved Poppy’s friendship with the slightly eccentric Delilah; the things they got up to in the name of investigating the mystery were such fun and I was so engrossed in the story that I felt like I was along on the ride with them.

I very much enjoyed Poppy’s flirtations with Daniel too. I adored the way that she was falling for him and how she was so forward-thinking in many ways but then all of a sudden she would tell him off for being too bold. It was delightful to read and I can’t wait to see what might happen next for these two!

I was intrigued by Elizabeth and I very much enjoyed how the mystery around her and her family was revealed. I noticed what was perhaps another reference to Charlotte Perkins Gilman later in the novel when Elizabeth thinks the mould on the walls in her room is changing and moving, it reminded me of the woman losing her mind in The Yellow Wallpaper. It meant the reader was never absolutely sure about Elizabeth and what she had to tell, which heightens the sense of mystery.

I am thrilled that this is the first in a new series of books and I absolutely cannot wait to read more of Poppy’s adventures; I’ll be first in line to pre-order the next book as soon as it’s available. I can’t recommend this novel highly enough; I’m actually going to be putting it on my favourites shelf and there aren’t very many books that make it on to there. Even though this was a mystery novel and I now know the outcome, I will still re-read this because I loved the characters and the story so much. I’m also about to buy a couple of copies to give as gifts to friends who I know will enjoy this novel as much as I did.

I rate this novel 5 out 0f 5 and give it pride of place on my all-time favourites shelf!

This book was sent to me by Lion Hudson in exchange for an honest review.

The Jazz Files is out now and available on Amazon.

Blurb

‘The Jazz Files’
Book 1 in Poppy Denby Investigates series (Lion Fiction) By Fiona Veitch Smith

Release date: 17 September 2015 RRP: £7.99
Publisher: Lion Fiction
ISBN: 978-1-78264-175-9

Set in 1920, The Jazz Files introduces aspiring journalist Poppy Denby from Morpeth, who ar- rives in London to look after her ailing Aunt Dot, an infamous suffragette. Dot encourages Poppy to apply for a job at The Daily Globe, but on her first day a senior reporter is killed and Poppy is tasked with finishing his story. It involves the mysterious death of a suffragette seven years earli- er, about which some powerful people would prefer that nothing be said…

Through her friend Delilah Marconi, Poppy is introduced to the giddy world of London in the Roar- ing Twenties, with its flappers, jazz clubs, and romance. Will she make it as an investigative jour- nalist, in this fast-paced new city? And will she be able to unearth the truth before more people die?

About the Author

Fiona Veitch Smith

Fiona Veitch Smith was inspired to write The Jazz Files by the centenary anniversary of the death of Morpeth’s Emily Wilding Davison, who died after being struck by the king’s horse in a suffragist protest in 1912. “I initially intended Poppy to be a suffragette reporter sleuth but decided instead to have her as a 1920s flapper inheriting the freedoms won for her by her aunt and other brave women of the time. The Jazz Files has feminist undertones and is an exploration of the challenges faced by a woman in the male-dominated workplace, but it is first and foremost – I hope – just a cracking good mystery,” said the author.

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

Jazz Files 1: Author Fiona Veitch Smith will be hosting a launch of her new book The Jazz Files on 25 September. Here she is in Waterstones, Newcastle, with her vintage 1922 Remington type- writer just like the one her heroine reporter sleuth Poppy Denby uses in the book.

Poppy Denby 2

Jazz Files 2: Fiona Veitch Smith dressed like her character Poppy Denby, a reporter sleuth in a new mystery series set in the 1920s.

Review: Christmas at Cranberry Cottage by Talli Roland

Posted on 22/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

I’m a huge Talli Roland fan, I’ve read all of her novels and novellas and loved them so when I spotted she had another Christmas novella out I couldn’t resist buying it immediately! I have to say that this is more of a short story than a novella – I read it in under ten minutes but it is still a lovely, festive read.

Jess is a high-flying photographer who is currently working in New York but is looking forward to getting back to her childhood home in the UK to spend Christmas with her Gran. A phone call from her Gran with news that Cranberry Cottage is going to be demolished as part of a new high-speed rail line causes to Jess drop everything to return home to try and save it.

I loved this story but I can’t help but wish it had been longer – I think it could have made a perfect novella or even full-length novel. There are glimpses of characters that I wanted to know more about. There is a love interest that held such potential and I enjoyed what there was of the chemistry between Tom and Jess but I would have loved to hear more about the past and to see how their story might have developed further. I adored Jess’ relationship with her Gran, I just wish we could have heard more about the two of them and this gorgeous cottage.

The cover of this short story is so festive and the combined with the description of the decorations inside the cottage just made me want to go there! The descriptions of the kitsch decorations that were years old and often falling apart reminded me so much of my Nan’s home and all of her wonderful Christmas ornaments.

This short story is absolutely worth buying and I’d recommend it to anyone who wants a very quick, Christmassy read. I so badly want to rate it higher because I did enjoy it but I was left wanting so to know so much more. I rate this 3.5 out of 5.

Christmas at Cranberry Cottage is out now and is available as an ebook from Amazon.

Weekly Wrap Up and Stacking the Shelves (21 November)

Posted on 21/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

It’s weekly wrap up time again!

As I’m sure a lot of you will know from my previous weekly wrap up posts, my blog means an awful lot to me. So this week I couldn’t help but be excited when I spotted that my blog has now had over 5000 page views and over 2000 unique visitors. I’ve only been blogging for under three months so I’m over the moon with how many people have taken the time to read my posts. Thank you so much to you all!

Posts on my blog this week:

I confessed to all of my reading habits in the Reader Habits Book Tag. Please feel free to join in with this tag, and link back to me in your blog post so that I can see your answers.

I also wrote my regular posts as part of the memes I join in with each week. Here are my WWW Wednesday and my Book Beginnings posts.

My week in books:

I’ve read four books this week and have reviewed all of them. (Please click on the titles in the list below the pics to read my reviews)

the single feather ruth hunt Sky Lantern The Winter Wedding

The Single Feather by Ruth F. Hunt

Sky Lantern by Matt Mikalatos

The Winter Wedding by Abby Clements

Hello, Goodbye and Everything in Between by Jennifer E. Smith

Books I’ve bought this week:

a boy called christmas The Silent Room by Mari Hannah The Lady in the Van by Alan Bennett The Dead Dog Day by Jackie Kabler Getting the Picture by Sarah Salway From Paris with Love by Jules Wake State of Wonder by Ann Pratchett Christmas at Carol's by Nicola Yeager

A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig

The Silent Room by Mari Hannah

The Lady in the Van by Alan Bennett

The Dead Dog Day by Jackie Kabler

Getting the Picture by Sarah Salway

From Paris with Love by Jules Wake

State of Wonder by Ann Pratchett

Christmas at Carol’s by Nicola Yeager

ARCS I’ve received this week:

Girls on Fire by Robin Wasserman As Good as Dead by Elizabeth Evans The Accidental Guest by Tilly Tennant A Christmas Romance by Lynda Renham Alchemy by Jade Kennedy

Girls on Fire by Robin Wasserman

As Good as Dead by Elizabeth Evans

The Accidental Guest by Tilly Tennant

A Christmas Romance by Amy Perfect (Lynda Renham)

Alchemy by Jade Kennedy

I’m very excited about all of my new books so it’s hard to pick the one I’m most excited to read! I think Girls on Fire has to get a mention as I’ve been hearing quite a bit about it on social media and was thrilled to be approved for it on Net Galley. It has such a great cover too, doesn’t it? I can’t wait to read Matt Haig’s Christmas book. I know it’s a children’s book but Matt Haig is such a wonderful author and I have a feeling that there will be a lot in this book that will resonate with adults too. I’d completely missed that a new Mari Hannah book was out this week so I was super excited when I spotted it and had to buy it immediately. Regular readers of my blog will know how much I love a Christmas book so it probably goes without saying how excited I am to read Tilly Tennant and Amy Perfect’s new Christmas books too!

Review: Hello, Goodbye and Everything in Between by Jennifer E. Smith

Posted on 20/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

Hello, Goodbye and Everything in Between is the story of Clare and Aidan who have been dating throughout high school but they’re both about to leave for Universities at opposite ends of the country; Clare has decided that they should break up because long distance relationships don’t work. Aidan has just one night left to convince her that they should stay together.

I really enjoyed this novel. I liked that it was a little different from other contemporary young adult books in that it starts at the end and we get to hear the story though reminiscing; it added a different dimension to the characters. Clare has made a list of all the places in the local town where meaningful things have happened in their relationship and over the course of this last evening together they will visit them all one last time. As Clare and Aidan stop at each place on Clare’s list we get to see how they feel being there now and we get to hear about why each place means so much to them. I loved how sometimes they remember things a little differently, and how they discovered new things like when they’d each first noticed each other.

Clare and Aidan have made so much of this last night together that the underlying tension is very apparent. Inevitably, the stress of making this last evening perfect begins to take its toll and arguments happen and a secret gets revealed. It’s the way these things go in real life and as much as I was willing these two on to have a brilliant night full of happy memories, it was much more believable that the worries and upset about their future apart from each other would creep in.

I really felt for them because they weren’t breaking up because they’d fallen out of love, they’d both made the very adult decision to apply to colleges that were the best fit for what they wanted to do in the future and rather than choosing based on them being able to live near each other. I really appreciated this in the novel too, as so often in books things all work out neatly because the characters end up living near by.

I was really torn about how I wanted this novel to end. I was half-hoping they’d decide to stay together and make a go of it. In this day and age with texting and FaceTime etc they maybe could have at least tried but I understand Clare’s point of view that if they tried and failed they might end up not even being friends, whereas if they end on a good note now they could remain friends. I was also half-hoping that Clare would stand her ground and that they would make a clean break as she did have a good point and she so badly wanted Aidan to still be in her life, at least as a friend, rather than him ending up as no one to her.

I really wasn’t sure how this novel was going to end but Smith ended it perfectly, I’m not going to give any spoilers at all but the end was just right.

The title of this book is perfect, it really does sum up what the book is about and it’s very memorable too! I really enjoyed Hello, Goodbye and Everything in Between, it’s a heart-felt novel with characters that are easy to connect with; the story pulls you straight in and holds you there right to the end!

I rate this book 4 out of 5.

Hello, Goodbye and Everything in Between is out now and available from Amazon.

I received this book from Headline via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Book Beginnings (20 November)| The Things We Keep by Sally Hepworth

Posted on 20/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

My Book Beginning

the things we keep

The Things We keep by Sally Hepworth

Fifteen months ago…

No one trusts anything I say. If I point out, for example, that the toast is burning or that it’s time for the six o’clock news, people marvel. How about that? Well done, Anna. Maybe if I were eighty-eight instead of thirty-eight, I wouldn’t care. Then again, maybe I would. As a new resident of Rosalind House, an assisted-living facility for senior citizens, I’m having a new appreciation for the hardships of the elderly.

I know from the blurb that this character is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. This opening really grabs me though because Anna feels she’s not trusted to know things by the other residents because she is so much younger than them, but actually, because of her disease, she is an unreliable narrator and as readers we don’t know yet whether she is right about why they don’t trust her, or whether it’s because her disease if more advanced than she herself is aware. I think this is going to be an emotional but also good read. I can’t wait to read more. The Things We Keep is due to be published in January so I plan to read it next month.

Review: The Winter Wedding by Abby Clements

Posted on 19/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

The Winter Wedding

I’m a huge fan of Abby Clements and always look forward to a new novel from her. I especially loved her Christmas novel, Meet Me Under the Mistletoe, so when I was offered a chance to read this novel, I jumped at the chance.

Hazel feels lost when her sister moves out of the flat they share. She struggles with the idea of a new flat mate and she’s not getting the chances she deserves at work. Her life seems to be standing still while those around her are moving on at great pace. Lila asks Hazel to help plan her wedding and a sideline job is born for Hazel as guests at Lila’s wedding ask her to help plan their big day. She enjoys helping these couples out but her heart is really in the miniature sets she’s been creating in secret.

Hazel’s love life is at something of a standstill too ever since she made a pass at her best friend Sam the previous Christmas. With terrible timing she begins to realise she has fluttery feelings for her work colleague Josh just at the time he asks her to plan his wedding to Sarah.

I loved Hazel and was willing her on to find happiness throughout this novel. She was such a likeable character who I warmed to straight away, she is such a well-rounded character that she felt like someone I actually knew. I loved seeing her friendship with Amber grow.

I enjoyed how the novel kept taking me in different directions with regards to not only who Hazel might end up with but also if she’d end up with someone at all. I so wanted her to find her Mr Right and didn’t want her to either settle for steady or to be responsible for breaking up someone else’s relationship. I felt all warm and fuzzy when the right man saw Hazel’s miniature set designs and encouraged her to follow her dreams.

I loved the descriptions of the miniature sets that Hazel created, I could picture them so vividly. I wish these sets really existed, I’d love to see them and be able to buy them as gifts. How lovely it would be to have a miniature set of your wedding day!

This book is a warm and cosy read, perfect for curling up with on a cold winter night. It’s not a festive read but it still has a sense of the festive because it is mainly set in the winter and in the run up to a Christmas wedding.

I rate this book 4.5 out of 5.

I received this book from Simon and Schuster in exchange for an honest review.

The Winter Wedding is out now and available from Amazon.

The gorgeous copy that I was lucky enough to receive for review.

WWW Wednesdays (18th November)

Posted on 18/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

The three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

What I’m reading now:

the jazz files

The Jazz Files by Fiona Veitch Smith

(Out now! My review will be up on Monday 23rd November as part of the blog tour)

I’m thoroughly enjoying reading this novel, I haven’t read anything like it for such a long time and it feels like a real treat.

Blurb:

“It stands for Jazz Files,” said Rollo. “It’s what we call any story that has a whiff of high society scandal but can’t yet be proven… you never know when a skeleton in the closet might prove useful.” Set in 1920, The Jazz Files introduces aspiring journalist Poppy Denby, who arrives in London to look after her ailing Aunt Dot, an infamous suffragette. Dot encourages Poppy to apply for a job at The Daily Globe, but on her first day a senior reporter is killed and Poppy is tasked with finishing his story. It involves the mysterious death of a suffragette seven years earlier, about which some powerful people would prefer that nothing be said…Through her friend Delilah Marconi, Poppy is introduced to the giddy world of London in the Roaring Twenties, with its flappers, jazz clubs, and romance. Will she make it as an investigative journalist, in this fast-paced new city? And will she be able to unearth the truth before more people die?

Follow Me by Angela Clarke

(Due to be published 3rd December)

This book is so good and near impossible to put down but is utterly terrifying at the same time. I’m over half way through and am suspicious of just about everyone in this novel!

Blurb:

LIKE. SHARE. FOLLOW . . . DIE

The ‘Hashtag Murderer’ posts chilling cryptic clues online, pointing to their next target. Taunting the police. Enthralling the press. Capturing the public’s imagination.

But this is no virtual threat.

As the number of his followers rises, so does the body count.

Eight years ago two young girls did something unforgivable. Now ambitious police officer Nasreen and investigative journalist Freddie are thrown together again in a desperate struggle to catch this cunning, fame-crazed killer. But can they stay one step ahead of him? And can they escape their own past?

Time’s running out. Everyone is following the #Murderer. But what if he is following you?

ONLINE, NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM …

the silent dead

The Silent Dead by Claire McGowan

(Due to be published on 19th November)

I started reading this last night and it’s brilliant! It’s so good to be catching up with Paula Maguire again. This is one of my favourite book series!

Blurb:

Victim: Male. Mid-thirties. 5’7″.

Cause of death: Hanging. Initial impression – murder.

ID: Mickey Doyle. Suspected terrorist and member of the Mayday Five.

The officers at the crime scene know exactly who the victim is.
Doyle was one of five suspected bombers who caused the deaths of sixteen people.
The remaining four are also missing and when a second body is found, decapitated, it’s clear they are being killed by the same methods their victims suffered.
Forensic psychologist Paula Maguire is assigned the case but she is up against the clock – both personally and professionally.
With moral boundaries blurred between victim and perpetrator, will be Paula be able to find those responsible? After all, even killers deserve justice, don’t they?

bossypants

Bossypants by Tina Fey

(Out now!)

I’m listening to the audiobook of this and am really enjoying it.

Blurb:

Once in a generation a woman comes along who changes everything. Tina Fey is not that woman, but she met that woman once and acted weird around her.

Before 30 Rock, Mean Girls, and ‘Sarah Palin’, Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV. She has seen both these dreams come true.

At last, Tina Fey’s story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon – from the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence.

Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we’ve all suspected: you’re no one until someone calls you bossy.

I’m also still reading from last week:

A Notable Woman winter's fairytale hello goodbye and everything in between

A Notable Woman ed. by Simon Garfield (Kindle Book)

Winter’s Fairytale by Maxine Morrey (Kindle Book)

Hello, Goodbye and Everything in Between by Jennifer E. Smith (Kindle Book)

What I recently finished reading:

(Click the titles in the list below the pics to read my reviews and to find out more about the books)

What Happens at Christmas_FINAL the single feather ruth hunt The Winter Wedding Sky Lantern

Lost Girls by Angela Marsons

What Happens at Christmas by T. A. Williams

The Single Feather by R. F. Hunt

The Winter Wedding by Abby Clements (review to follow soon)

Sky Lantern by Matt Mikalatos

What I plan on reading next:

the secret by the lake

The Secret by the Lake by Louise Douglas

(Due to be published on 19th November. My review will be up on 26th November as part of the blog tour)

Blurb:

A FAMILY TRAGEDY
Amy’s always felt like something’s been missing in her life. When a tragedy forces the family she works for as a nanny to retreat to a small lakeside cottage, she realises she cannot leave them now.
A SISTER’S SECRET
But Amy finds something unsettling about the cottage by the lake. This is where the children’s mother spent her childhood – and the place where her sister disappeared mysteriously at just seventeen.
A WEB OF LIES
Soon Amy becomes tangled in the missing sister’s story as dark truths begin rising to the surface. But can Amy unlock the secrets of the past before they repeat themselves?

Sugar and Snails by Anne Goodwin (1)

Sugar and Snails by Anna Goodwin

(Out now!)

The past lingers on, etched beneath our skin …
At fifteen, Diana Dodsworth took the opportunity to radically alter the trajectory of her life, and escape the constraints of her small-town existence. Thirty years on, she can’t help scratching at her teenage decision like a scabbed wound.
To safeguard her secret, she’s kept other people at a distance… until Simon Jenkins sweeps in on a cloud of promise and possibility. But his work is taking him to Cairo, and he expects Di to fly out for a visit. She daren’t return to the city that changed her life; nor can she tell Simon the reason why.
Sugar and Snails takes the reader on a poignant journey from Diana’s misfit childhood, through tortured adolescence to a triumphant mid-life coming-of-age that challenges preconceptions about bridging the gap between who we are and who we feel we ought to be.

the mince pie mix up

The Mince Pie Mix-Up by Jennifer Joyce

(Out now!)

‘I wish I could live your life. I’d happily swap lives with you.’

Calvin wishes he could trade in his obnoxious boss and dull nine-to-five job to spend more time kicking back with his kids – how hard can Judy’s life really be?

But after a magical mince pie mix-up, one thing’s for certain – by Christmas Day, life for Judy and Calvin will never be the same again. Perhaps the grass isn’t always greener after all…

the drowning lesson

The Drowning Lesson by Jane Shemilt

(Out now!)

The press conference, one year ago
Our home is a crime scene now.
I am in yesterday’s clothes. The clothes in which I kissed Sam goodbye. Then he’d belonged only to us. Now his image will be shared with the world.
We should be grateful.
‘Our son . . . Sam . . .’ My eyes fill with tears, the writing on the paper blurs. ‘Someone took him. Please help us . . .’
I back away from the microphone, the paper falls from my hands.

The anniversary
The Jordan family thought they would return from their gap year abroad enriched, better people, a closer family.
Not minus one child.
A year on, Emma remains haunted by the image of that empty cot, thousands of miles away, the chasm between her and the rest of the family growing with each day that Sam remains missing. Is her son still out there? Will the mystery about what happened that night ever be unravelled?

How To Get Ahead in Television by Sophie Cousens (1)

How To Get Ahead in Television by Sophie Cousens

(Out now!)

Poppy Penfold desperately wants a career in television. After months of dead-end applications, she gets her big break with a temporary job as a runner for RealiTV. But to land a permanent role, Poppy will need to go head-to-head with fellow runner Rhidian: arrogant, highly competitive – and ridiculously good looking.

Poppy goes all out to impress, but somehow things don’t go to plan. Whether failing to prevent a washed-up soap star from becoming roaring drunk during Scottish game show Last Clan Standing, or managing to scare the horses during the filming of Strictly Come Prancing, Poppy gets noticed for all the wrong reasons. With highly strung presenters and distractingly handsome producers in the mix, it’s Poppy’s determination that will see her win or lose her dream job, and maybe her dream man too…

What are you reading today? What have you finished reading this week? What are you hoping to read over the next week? Have you read any of these books? Please share your answers in the comments below.

Review: Sky Lantern by Matt Mikalatos

Posted on 17/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

sky lantern matt mikalatos

Sky Lantern is the story of a man who finds a sky lantern at the end of his driveway, and on picking it up to put it in the bin notices a message written on it. The message is from someone called Steph and she has written it to her father about how much she misses him. Matt can’t help but think and reflect about how his own young daughters would feel if he were no longer with them, and it leads to him writing an open letter to Steph on his blog in the hope that one day she, or even his own daughters, might find the letter and be comforted.

Matt’s open letter is very moving. He deliberately made it quite non-specific so that it would apply universally but he talks about how proud a father is of his daughter and how much he loved her. He gives life advice about finding those who love you and filling your life with them. He explains that he knows you miss your father and that you can’t replace him but that you have to keep moving forward. I was crying by this point in the book, my mum died a few years ago and it made me think of her because it’s the sort of letter that I know she would have written if she had had more time. Matt’s letter reminded me a little of Mary Schmich’s commencement speech (that was later turned into a song by Baz Luhrmann called Wear Sunscreen). It’s a life-affirming letter that everyone will be able to take something from even if not all of it relates to them.

Matt’s letter ended up around the world, he received many letters from people who weren’t Steph but who appreciated the letter all the same and found comfort in it. He received many letters from women who believed they were the Steph who sent the lantern but even while Matt wasn’t sure they were the right Steph, he still wrote back and showed real kindness and compassion.

Throughout this book, Matt learns lessons himself about not taking his loved ones for granted. He is obviously a lovely dad to his children, but as is the case with all of us, life gets busy and sometimes we brush off a loved one wanting a few minutes of our time. Matt’s book is a reminder to always tell the people we love that we love them.

If I was to be at all critical it would be to say that at times this book does feel a little drawn out; I’m not sure that there was enough to make a full-length book out of this experience. Having said that, it is a very moving and life-affirming read and I’m sure it will offer great comfort to people who have been bereaved. I cried over a chapter where Matt wrote about loss and how we make sense of it and how our lives can never be the same. It’s the silly thing of still picking up the phone to call a loved one who has been gone for a while but in that moment our brains forget for an instant until the phone is in our hand. I did this so many times after my mum died so it resonated greatly for me.

It is wonderful that a new friendship came from Matt finding the sky lantern, and that he helped not just one woman find solace but hundreds or even thousands of people who were comforted by reading his letter. This beautiful book really is a lesson to us all that showing a little more kindness to others can go a really long way.

I rated this book 4 out of 5.

I received this book from Howard Books via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Sky Lantern is out today and available from Amazon.

Review: The Single Feather by R.F. Hunt

Posted on 16/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

The Single Feather is a novel that takes an unflinching look at what it is like to be disabled in modern Britain and it doesn’t shy away from confronting the big issues.

Rachel is paralysed from the waist down; she has recently escaped a terrible situation and has moved into an adapted home in a small town. She is trying to come to terms with the new reality of her life and eventually joins a local art class in an attempt to meet some new people and to make friends.

This book was a difficult read for me at times, but it’s an important read at the same time. Hunt doesn’t shy away from showing the very real prejudices that disabled people still experience. The way that Rachel was treated by the guards was extreme but it made a very important point about the lack of care given to disabled people at times and the lack of dignity that is so often a common experience. Likewise, with the words that some of the people in the art group used. Anne always referred to Rachel as handicapped, and Rachel felt uncomfortable explaining that disabled is a more socially acceptable word. Hunt cleverly distinguishes between the genuine malice in the way Rachel was treated in the past, and how often some people just don’t realise that the terms they are using are offensive. It doesn’t make it alright but there is a big difference between ignorance and intolerance and I’m glad this was shown in this novel.

This is a novel that starts off quite slowly but Hunt gradually builds it up and it really comes into it’s own as you get a bit further into it. Once the back story of the characters starts to come through, you begin to understand their struggles and their motivations. The way they had behaved earlier in the novel began to make sense and it became possible to have real sympathy and understanding for them. Hunt never shies away from the realities of disability or mental health, and in this novel she really demonstrates that old adage about how everyone is fighting their own battle, you just might not know it. Hunt really does give you something to think about.

I wish the reveal about what really caused Rachel’s disability had come earlier in the novel as when it eventually is revealed it allows us to understand so much more about who she is, and perhaps would’ve have given the earlier parts of the novel a bit more depth. Having said that, I do completely understand how difficult it is to explain, for many reasons, what your disability is and what caused it so it does make sense that Rachel felt such reticence to be open.

I really enjoyed Kate and Rachel’s budding friendship, and as this became a closer friendship and we got to know more about them both it really added to the novel. I think Kate became my favourite character, she was well-adjusted and had the strength to speak out when necessary.

There was much more introspection as the novel neared its end and I found some of it very powerful. The part where Rachel finally understands what her mum meant by it being her own views that needed changing, was striking. The idea that sometimes, as a disabled person, it is easy to sometimes assume that the whole world is automatically going to be against you because of how some people have treated you in the past. Once Rachel opened up about the past and began to share with select members of the group they all had a new-found respect and a deeper connection with her. Kate’s words of wisdom stuck out the most for me though when she was trying to get Rachel to understand that just because people don’t always mention her wheelchair or her disability it doesn’t automatically mean they’re feeling awkward about it; sometimes people see the person first and the disability and the wheelchair fade away because they’re not important. These words had such resonance for me and I’m going to be taking Kate’s advice on board in my own life.

Ultimately, what really shines out of this novel is its representation of disability and mental health; how it shows a young woman doing her best to find a new normal and who is getting on with her life in spite of her disability, and there are very, very few books, if any, that show this. I rate this novel 4 out of 5 stars.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Single Feather is out now and available from Amazon.

Reading Habits Book Tag

Posted on 15/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

I recently spotted this Reading Habits Book Tag on BookBoodle‘s blog and immediately felt compelled to ask if I could join in!

Here are my reading habits…

Do you have a certain place at home for reading?

Not as such, I just read wherever I happen to be at the time. Having said that, we have also just re-organised the spare room so as you can see in the photo I have a very comfy recliner chair with a tall reading lamp behind and a window to the side, so it’s the perfect place to read. But I mostly read on my Kindle Voyage now (which is front lit) so I don’t necessarily need to be by a lamp anymore. I do like reading in bed before I go to sleep, I’ve done that ever since I was a small child and I can’t see that ever changing. The Kindle Voyage is perfect for reading in bed.

Bookmark or random piece of paper?

Random bits of paper! I love bookmarks and I have some gorgeous ones but usually they’re never to hand when I need a bookmark so I just grab any scrap of paper to hand! Often when I’ve finished reading a book I forget to remove the paper that I’ve used as a bookmark so whenever I have a clear out of books I always have to make sure there’s no scraps of paper left in. This can often be a wonderful trip down memory lane though as I discover old postcards, even a letter occasionally, that I’ve used as a bookmark.

Can you just stop reading or do you have to stop at the end of a chapter/a certain amount of pages?

I stop wherever I am at the time, I never feel that I need to read to a certain point before stopping. Although if a book is particularly gripping I will do the whole “I’ll just read one more chapter…” thing and before I know it it’s 4am!

Hands-free reading on my Kindle!

Do you eat or drink while reading?

I do if I’m reading on my kindle as it’s easy to prop that up while I’m eating, it’s not so easy with a print book. After my spinal surgery a few months ago I found a device that attached to my kindle and made it hands-free, this was brilliant as it meant I could still read while lying down without causing harm to my neck. I still use that sometimes but usually I just keep my Kindle in its case which allows me to prop it up.

Multitasking: music or TV whilst reading?

It really depends on my mood. Sometimes I have to read with complete silence around me otherwise I get distracted but at other times I can actually watch TV and read at the same time while managing to follow both plots. I don’t tend to put music on while I read but if my husband is in the same room and wants music on it doesn’t affect my reading at all.

One book at a time or several at once?

I usually have four or five books on the go at once. I used to just read one at a time but then when I went to Uni a few years ago to do an English Lit degree I often had to read four novels a week, plus wider reading, so I quickly had to learn to hold multiple stories in my head at once. Since then I’ve always preferred to have lots of books on the go. I try to keep them to different genres so that I don’t get storylines confused. I think I read more books over the course of a year since I stopped reading one at once; I’m sure it’s because if one book isn’t quite holding my attention because I’m not in the right mindset then I can just pick up a different one that I’m already in to and carry on where I left off.

Read at home or everywhere?

I read anywhere and everywhere. I’m that person you see reading in the long queue at the Post Office! I hate to waste time when I could be reading. I think one of the things that helped convert me to Kindle was the fact that with the app on my phone it meant I always have a book with me and because it syncs with my Kindle my book is always in the right place. Before I got a Kindle I’d so often forget to pick my book up and then would get to, for example, a doctor’s appointment only for the doctor to run half an hour late and I’d be kicking myself for the time wasted when I could have been reading! I also read during the ad breaks while we’re watching live TV. Having said all of this, there is nothing quite like curling up with a book at home and knowing you have the whole afternoon ahead of you to just read.

Read aloud or silently in your head?

I read silently in my head.

Do you read ahead or even skip pages?

I never read ahead, why would I want to risk spoilers?!

Breaking the spine or keeping it new?

Ooh this is a tough question! I never, ever, ever used to break spines on books. For me, a book had to be treated well and kept in pristine condition – I’ve never turned a corner over on a page; if I was taking a book out with me I’d wrap it up in a separate bag before putting into my handbag to try and prevent the corners getting scuffed. I was obsessive about my books being kept like new. These days I mainly read on my Kindle as I have a disability which affects my dexterity but I do still read print books sometimes. I have to break spines now because I don’t have the strength to hold a book open otherwise and I have to admit that I’ve discovered that there is something really satisfying about quite literally cracking open a brand new book! (Eeeeeek! I can’t believe I just admitted to this!!)

Do you write in books?

The only time I’ve ever written in books is when I’ve bought a book for studying, I’d never write in any other book. If I want to note a favourite passage I use post-it notes or take a photo on my phone.

I’m not tagging anyone but if you’d like to join in please feel free to answer the questions on your blog and share your links in the comments below (or link back to my blog so I can read your answers). If you don’t have a blog feel free to chat to me about your reading habits in the comments. 🙂

Review: Lost Girls by Angela Marsons

Posted on 14/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

This is the first book I’ve read by Angela Marsons but it absolutely won’t be the last, I’ve already bought the first two books in this series and plan to read them soon!

Two young girls have been kidnapped, and it’s a very similar case to a previous one where one girl was found and the other never was. The perpetrators of the first kidnapping have never been caught, which immediately sets alarm bells ringing for D. I. Kim Stone, who is heading up this new investigation. Things quickly take an even more sinister turn when a text message states that only one set of parents will get their child back – the parents who offer the highest bid!

I found Kim Stone fascinating, she is such a great character. She is very tough and incredibly focused on her work, but she finds it near impossible to switch off and is not good at taking care of herself. There have obviously being a lot of issues in her past that have affected her greatly but Kim tries to shut herself off from her issues but it is apparent in the way she is that they have had an impact on her. Elements of Kim’s past come to the fore in this book because she has a link with someone affected by the kidnapping; I’m now keen to read the earlier books in this series to try and put together more about her. I enjoyed how she and Bryant worked together and how he knew her so well and could read her very well, their relationship really helped make Kim seem less hard and more likeable. I also really enjoyed the scenes that involved Kim and Mike, even though they don’t say a huge amount to each other and they were often at loggerheads, it was still interesting to see their connection.

This book has such a claustrophobic feel to it that heightens the tension for the characters and the reader. The police decide to contain the two sets of parents in one house along with the investigating officers. It felt stifling but it worked so well; at times it was so intense that I felt like I was holding my breath, especially once the text arrived with the demand for bids that set the parents against each other.

The chapters in this book are very short, and the focus goes back and forth between the police and the kidnappers and the two girls’ families, which kept the momentum going brilliantly. It’s one of those books where it gets to be very late at night and you can barely keep your eyes open because you’re so tired, and yet you keep thinking just one more chapter!

About halfway through this book I had my suspicions around who might be involved in this kidnapping but I never did work it out, I love it when a book keeps me in suspense all the way through as I usually can see a twist coming or I can spot whodunnit but not in this book. I can’t wait to read more by Angela Marsons and will be reading the first two books in the series as soon as I can!

I rate this book 4.5 out of 5.

Lost Girls is out now and available from Amazon.

I received this book from Bookouture via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Weekly Wrap Up and Stacking the Shelves (14 November)

Posted on 14/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

It’s Saturday again so it’s time for my weekly wrap up post!

This week I was chosen to be an official Harper Impulse supporter, which was a lovely surprise. I filled in the form but didn’t expect to be picked so It made my day when I got the email through.

On my blog this week:

I picked a winner for my Out of the Darkness giveaway. The winner was announced here, just in case you missed my blog post on Wednesday.

I joined in the TBR (To Be Read) Book Tag and confessed to exactly how big my TBR is! You can read all my TBR confessions here.

I did a cover reveal for the lovely Holly Martin’s new novel, The Revenge. You can find that post here.

And finally, my regular WWW Wednesday and Book Beginnings posts in case you missed them.

I chose to rate books that I’ve read from 1-10 but have now decided I prefer a 1-5 rating system. I’m not going to go back and change the ratings on previous reviews but starting from today all the books that I read will be rated under my new system.

I’ve read four books and two short stories this week, and have reviewed all of them. (Click on the titles in the list below the pics to read my reviews)

The Boy in the Bookshop by Katey Lovell (short story)

The Boy at the Beach by Katey Lovell (short story)

What Rosie Found Next by Helen J. Rolfe

Lost Girls by Angela Marsons

Wendy Darling by Colleen Oakes

What Happens at Christmas by T A Wiliams

I’m also joining in with Stacking the Shelves (hosted by Tynga’s Reviews), which is all about sharing all the books you’ve acquired in the past week – ebooks or physical books, and books you’ve bought or borrowed or received an ARC of.

Books I’ve bought this week:

The Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes

All The Major Constellations by Pratima Cranse

Paint My Body Red by Heidi R. Kling

The Sunlit Night by Rebecca Dinerstein

183 Times a Year by Eva Jordan

The Christmas Getaway by Jill Barry

ARCS I’ve received this week:

The One in a Million Boy by Monica Wood

The Darkest Secret by Alex Marwood

The Theseus Paradox by David Videcette

Did You Ever Have A Family? by Bill Clegg

Thicker than Water by Brigid Kemmerer

Alice Takes Back Wonderland by David D. Hammons

The Children’s Home by Charles Lambert

Sugar and Snails by Anne Goodwin

How To Get Ahead in Television by Sophie Cousens

Book Beginnings (13 November) | In Real Life by Jessica Love

Posted on 13/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

My Book Beginning

In Real Live by Jessica Love

My best friend and I have never met. We talk every day, on the phone or online, and he knows more about me than anyone. Like, deep into my soul. But we’re never actually seen each other in real life.

I’ve not read the blurb for this book and I’ve deliberately avoided reading anything about it online. I knew I’d love it when I saw the cover and now I’ve read these opening lines I know this book will be one I very much enjoy. From the opening lines you can straight away see how much she feels for her best friend, and how the best friend is possibly also a love interest. This person means the world to the narrator. I love that these two characters feel such a strong bond and yet have never met and I can’t wait to read further and find out how they know each other and whether they stay online friends or whether they will dare to meet up in real life (my strong suspicion is that they will!). I’m sure this book is going to be a gorgeous read!.

Blog Tour|Review & Excerpt: What Happens at Christmas by T. A. Williams

Posted on 12/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

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Today I’m thrilled that it’s my stop on the What Happens at Christmas by T. A. Williams blog tour. I have my review of the book to share with you and also an excerpt from the book. There is also a giveaway as part of this tour to win a copy of one of T. A. Williams other books, What Happens in Cornwall!

What Happens at Christmas is a gorgeous, feel-good novel that has some real depth to it. Holly Brice has recently found out that her estranged father has died and that she has inherited his cottage in a quaint little village in Dartmoor. Holly makes a trip to the remote village to clear the cottage out to get it ready for selling and it ends up being a real trip down memory lane for her. Holly also discovers that not only has she inherited her father’s home but also his lovely one-year-old labrador, named Stirling.

Holly ends up on a real journey of discovery as she gets to know some of the locals in the village and also as she begins to clear her dad’s cottage out. She discovers that she may not have known the whole truth about her dad and starts to see him in a different light. I found some of the things Holly finds out about her dad incredibly moving. It was lovely to to see how Stirling was so in tune with Holly’s emotions and was always on hand to offer comfort.

Stirling was the star of this book for me, he was such an affectionate dog and so well-behaved that it’s impossible not to fall in love with him. He was a character in his own right and I really loved how an animal could be written into the story in such a big way.

Holly soon meets the desirable men in the village: Jack the handsome and lovely next-door neighbour, who is a bit mysterious; Justin, who is also a very attractive man but who has issues of his own to work though; and Howard who is lovely and just a little flirtatious in a harmless way.

I love that this book was set in the few days leading up to Christmas, it really did make me feel festive. Often with Christmas novels they are set in the months or year leading up to Christmas but there is something really lovely about a novel where the whole book is set in the immediate run up to Christmas.

This novel has everything you could possibly want in a Christmas story! It’s set at Christmas, it’s in a gorgeous location, it’s heart-breaking but more so it’s heart-warming, it has romance, it has crackly log fires, and it has snow!

I rate this book 8 out of 10 and recommend it to anyone who’s looking for a heart-warming Christmas novel.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

What Happens at Christmas is out now and available to buy from Amazon.

Release Date: October 22, 2015

Genres: Chick Lit

Publisher: Carina UK

Extract

She woke up at seven o’clock next morning with somebody trying to strangle her. A heavy weight was pinning her to the pillow, while a muscular arm pressed down upon her windpipe. She opened her eyes, but it was still pitch dark in the house. As the panic began to build, a long, warm tongue began to lick her cheek.

‘Oh, God, Stirling, stop that, will you. And your breath stinks. Get off this minute. Please, Stirling.’ With difficulty she managed to dislodge the dog from her throat and tip him over the edge of the bed onto the floor. He landed with a thud. Staying under the duvet, she shimmied across to the edge of the bed to check that he hadn’t hurt himself. She peered down into the dark. A large back nose appeared right in front of her and he would have licked her again if she hadn’t retreated. She lay there for another five minutes, conscious of the dog’s staring eyes, before accepting the inevitable. She pushed back the covers and climbed out of bed. Reaching for the matches, she lit the candle and looked down at the dog.

‘You’re a pain in the backside. You know that, don’t you?’ Delighted to hear her talking to him, he jumped to his feet and started wagging his tail. ‘God, it’s bloody cold.’ She pulled her jeans and jumper on over the top of her pyjamas and slipped on her warmest shoes; a gorgeous pair of Jimmy Choo ankle boots she had found in the Harvey Nicks sale last January, at less than half price. She took the candle and followed the now very excited dog downstairs into the kitchen. It was equally cold in there, so she put the candle down on the table and set about lighting the stove.

Once she had got a good fire going, she plucked up the courage to go to the loo. As she feared, the bathroom was freezing cold. She came back downstairs, went across to the window and looked out over the back garden. Dawn wouldn’t be for another hour, but it was not totally dark out there. The moon had disappeared, but there was still enough light from the stars for her to be able to distinguish shapes of bushes and trees in the garden. Closer to her, Greta the Porsche was sparkling with frost, the starlight reflecting in the host of ice crystals that covered all the horizontal surfaces. As Holly looked out, she ran her fingers across the inside of the glass. She wasn’t surprised to see them come away with a thin layer of ice on them. She went back over to the stove and packed another couple of logs into it.

‘I’d give my eye teeth for a cup of tea.’ She gazed wistfully at the electric kettle on the worktop, idly wondering to herself what eye teeth were. Stirling was standing beside his basket, unsure whether he should be gearing up for a walk or whether he would be told to go back to bed. Holly gave a little smile as she saw that he had somehow collected her father’s old jumper and brought it downstairs. A grey sleeve was hanging over the side of the basket. She stared at it for a few seconds before taking a deep breath and deciding she had better take the dog for a walk. He was delighted.

About the Book

For the perfect Christmas…

When career-girl Holly Brice learns that her estranged father has died, she decides to take a trip down memory lane and find out about the man she never knew. Arriving in the sleepy little Dartmoor village, she’s shocked to discover that she’s inherited the cosy little cottage she remembers so fondly, a whole load of money –and her father’s adorable dog, too!

Head to snow-covered Devon!

And as the first snowflakes begin to fall and Holly bumps into her gorgeous neighbour, Jack Nelson, life gets even more complicated! Men have always been off the cards for high-flying Holly, but there’s something about mysterious writer Jack that has her re-thinking her three-date rule…

A fabulous, feel-good festive read, perfect for fans of Debbie Johnson and Carole Matthews.

About the Author

Firstly, my name isn’t T A. It’s Trevor. I write under the androgynous name T A Williams because 65% of books are read by women. In my first book, “Dirty Minds” one of the (female) characters suggests the imbalance is due to the fact that men spend too much time getting drunk and watching football. I couldn’t possibly comment. Ask my wife…

I’ve written all sorts: thrillers, historical novels, short stories and now I’m enjoying myself hugely writing humour and romance. Romantic comedies are what we all need from time to time. Life isn’t always very fair. It isn’t always a lot of fun, but when it is, we need to embrace it. If my books can put a smile on your face and maybe give your heartstrings a tug, then I know I’ve done my job.

I‘ve lived all over Europe, but now I live in a little village in sleepy Devon, tucked away in south west England. I love the place. That’s why you’ll find leafy lanes and thatched cottages in most of my books. Oh, yes, and a black Labrador.

I’ve been writing since I was 14 and that is half a century ago. However, underneath this bald, wrinkly exterior, there beats the heart of a youngster. My wife is convinced I will never grow up. I hope she’s right.

Social Networking Links

Website: http://www.tawilliamsbooks.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TrevorWilliamsBooks

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TAWilliamsBooks

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/GRTAWilliams

Amazon Author: http://www.amazon.com/T-A-Williams/e/B00FDVNVMA/

As part of this blog tour the organiser Bliss Book Promotions are giving you the chance to win One ebook copy of What Happens in Cornwall by T. A. Williams

Please click the link below to be taken to the competition entry page:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/c48fa52743/?

Good luck!

Winner of the Out of the Darkness giveaway…

Posted on 11/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

For the last week I’ve been running a fabulous giveaway on my blog, very kindly donated by the lovely Katy Hogan.

Here is a link to my review of Out of the Darkness and giveaway

The winner of this gorgeous prize is: Adele (@kraftireader) Congratulations and I hope you enjoy your prize!

Thank you to everyone who entered. To those who didn’t win, I urge you to go buy Out of the Darkness and read it soon. It is the best book I’ve read this year, it’s made it on to my all-time favourites shelf (and not many books receive that honour!) and it deserves to be read by so many more people.

WWW Wednesday (11 November)

Posted on 11/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

The three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

What I’m reading now:

What Happens at Christmas by T. A. Williams

I started reading this book last night and it’s so good, I can’t wait to have the time to sit and read more!

Blurb:

For the perfect Christmas…

When career-girl Holly Brice learns that her estranged father has died, she decides to take a trip down memory lane and find out about the man she never knew.

Arriving in the sleepy little Dartmoor village, she’s shocked to discover that she’s inherited the cosy little cottage she remembers so fondly, a whole load of money – and her father’s adorable dog, too!

Head to snow-covered Devon! And as the first snowflakes begin to fall and Holly bumps into her gorgeous neighbour, Jack Nelson, life gets even more complicated! Men have always been off the cards for high-flying Holly, but there’s something about mysterious writer Jack that has her re-thinking her three-date rule…

Hello, Goodbye and Everything In Between by Jennifer E. Smith

Blurb:

One night. A life-changing decision. And a list…

Of course Clare made a list. She creates lists for everything. That’s just how she is.

But tonight is Clare and Aidan’s last night before college and this list will decide their future, together or apart.

It takes them on a rollercoaster ride through their past – from the first hello in science class to the first conversation at a pizza joint, their first kiss at the beach and their first dance in a darkened gymnasium – all the way up to tonight.

A night of laughs, fresh hurts, last-minute kisses and an inevitable goodbye.

But will it be goodbye forever or goodbye for now?

Winter’s Fairytale by Maxine Morrey

I’m really enjoying this book, it’s such a lovely Christmassy book that’s perfect for this cold, wintery weather.

Blurb:

A few weeks before Christmas and a sudden blanketing of snow has closed the roads and brought public transport grinding to a halt, stranding Izzy miles from home and in desperate need of rescuing.

That doesn’t mean she’s looking to bump into Rob and spend a cosy weekend holed up in his swanky flat watching London become a winter wonderland! Because Izzy and Rob have history…

Six months ago, they were standing in the vestry of a beautiful country church, while best man Rob delivered the news that every bride dreads on their big day.

But at the time of year when anything is possible, can Rob and Izzy let go of the past and let Christmas work its magic? Or will this be one holiday wish that Izzy lets walk right out of her life…

Lost Girls by Angela Marsons

This book is brilliant, it’s one of those books that’s really hard to put down once you start reading.

Blurb:

Two girls go missing. Only one will return.

The couple that offers the highest amount will see their daughter again. The losing couple will not. Make no mistake. One child will die.

When nine-year-old best friends Charlie and Amy disappear, two families are plunged into a living nightmare. A text message confirms the unthinkable; that the girls are the victims of a terrifying kidnapping.

And when a second text message pits the two families against each other for the life of their children, the clock starts ticking for D.I. Kim Stone and the squad.

Seemingly outwitted at every turn, as they uncover a trail of bodies, Stone realises that these ruthless killers might be the most deadly she has ever faced. And that their chances of bringing the girls home alive, are getting smaller by the hour…

Untangling a dark web of secrets from the families’ past might hold the key to solving this case. But can Kim stay alive long enough to do so? Or will someone’s child pay the ultimate price?

A Notable Woman ed. by Simon Garfield

I keep dipping in and out of this book as I just want it to last as long as possible, it’s wonderful.

Blurb:

In April 1925, Jean Lucey Pratt started a journal that she would keep for the rest of her life, producing over a million words in 45 exercise books. For sixty years, no one had an inkling of her diaries’ existence, and they have remained unpublished until now.
Jean wrote about anything that amused, inspired or troubled her, laying bare her life with aching honesty, infectious humour, indelicate gossip and heartrending hopefulness. She recorded her yearnings and disappointments in love. She documented the loss of a tennis match, her unpredictable driving, catty friends, devoted cats and difficult guests. With Jean we live through the tumult of the Second World War and the fears of a nation. We see Britain hurtling through a period of unbridled transformation and the shifting landscape for women in society. A unique slice of living, breathing British history, Jean’s diaries are a revealing chronicle of life in the twentieth century.

What I recently finished reading:

(Click the titles in the list below the pics to read my reviews and to find out more about the books)

How to Stuff Up Christmas by Rosie Blake

The Boy in the Bookshop: Short Story (Meet Cute series) by Katey Lovell

The Boy at the Beach: Short Story (Meet Cute series) by Katey Lovell

What Rosie Found Next by Helen J. Rolfe

Wendy Darling by Colleen Oakes

What I plan on reading next:

The Silent Dead by Claire McGowan (Due to be published 19th November)

I can barely wait to start this one, I absolutely love this series and can’t wait to see what’s happening with Paula Maguire!

Blurb:

Victim: Male. Mid-thirties. 5’7″.

Cause of death: Hanging. Initial impression – murder.

ID: Mickey Doyle. Suspected terrorist and member of the Mayday Five.

The Secret by the Lake by Louise Douglas (Due to be published 19th November)

I’m on the blog tour for this book so my review won’t be up until a week after publication day but I can’t wait any longer to start reading this book. It sounds so good and very intriguing!

Blurb:

Sky Lantern by Matt Mikalatos (Due to be published 17th November)

The cover of this book is stunning. I’m sure this will be an emotional read but ultimately an uplifting one. I’m looking forward to starting it very soon.

Blurb:

Matt Mikalatos offers a poignant and compassionate look at a father’s relationship with his children, the healing power of a small act of kindness, and the certainty that even death can’t stop love in a deeply moving memoir inspired by a sky lantern with a scribbled note and the journey to find the child who wrote it.
Love you, Daddy. Miss you so much. Steph.
Steph scribbled those words on a sky lantern before sending it off to her father in heaven who had passed away from cancer. Halfway across the country, Steph’s lantern landed in Matt Mikalatos’s yard.
As a father of three daughters, Matt could not let Steph’s note go unanswered, so he posted an open letter to her on his blog. Matt never could have expected the viral response to his letter that led him on a journey to find Steph—and to bring healing to thousands of others in desperate need of the loving words of a father.
Filled with paternal wisdom and reflections on the relationship between a father and their child, Sky Lantern shows how the miraculous events that followed Matt finding the sky lantern in his yard—and the widespread and lasting impact his letter had—prove that the bond between a parent and their child is everlasting.

The Winter Wedding by Abby Clements (This book is out now!)

I’m a huge fan of Abby Clements, and I especially loved her last Christmas book so I’m beyond excited to read this one. I’m going to be starting it this week, and I just know that I’m in for a treat!

Blurb:

Hazel never set out to be a wedding planner. She was just helping her stressed sister Lila with cakes and décor for her big day. But when Lila and Ollie’s summer ceremony is a runaway success, with guests raving about the food and styling at the pretty venue, word about Hazel’s expertise soon spreads.

But Hazel’s clients expect the very best – she’s promised lawyers Gemma and Eliot a snow-covered castle in the Scottish Highlands, and laidback couple Josh and Sarah a bohemian beach wedding in a Caribbean paradise. But as weather, in-laws and wilful brides conspire against her, can Hazel get two very different couples to walk up two very different aisles to say ‘I do’? And will she find her own happy ending if she does?

What are you reading this Wednesday? What are you planning on reading next? Please share your links below if you’ve joined in with this meme on your blog. If you’re not a blogger then please share your answers in the comments below.

Happy Reading!

Cover reveal: The Revenge by Holly Martin

Posted on 10/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

Here is the gorgeous cover for The Revenge, the new book by Holly Martin. This is the third book in The Sentinel Series and here’s the blurb so you can see what happens next for Eve and her friends.

He was created to be her back up and now he’s out to take her place
After the Oraculum orders Eve’s execution, she has to flee her home in the fort as those that have been guarding over her are forced to turn against her. Amongst the chaos, a new Sentinel is named. Adam, Eve’s half-brother.

Adam has spent his life incarcerated by the Oraculum while Eve was allowed to grow up with a family and friends. Now he is hell bent on revenge. He rules over his Guardians and his new kingdom with arrogance and a cold heart, but his one ambition is to make Eve’s life a living hell. Nowhere is safe from him, not even her dreams.

With the threat from the Putarians moving closer, her own Guardians betraying her, the survival of the world hinges in the balance.

Above all else, Adam must be stopped. But when Eve has a prophecy of her and Adam saving the world together, she quickly realizes she needs to work with him not against him.

But can Eve get through to Adam before it’s too late? Or will Adam’s evil heart result in the destruction of all?

Praise for The Sentinel (Book 1 in The Sentinel Series)

It’s a book you HAVE to read, because it’s incredible. An outstanding book that has left me bereft its finished. I wished I’d savoured it for longer. This book was one of those that once you started it was impossible to come away from. It was fast paced, exciting, full of suspense and action that had me gasping in shock at twists I never imagined could happen. It’s a story of courage and adventure. And no matter how dark it gets, there’s always love and hope. – Victoria Loves Books Blog

It’s really hard to find the words to describe how amazing this book is.
This is definitely the best debut I’ve read this year! I just love this book, I want you all to read this book, in fact you all need to read this book! – Love of a Good Book Blog

If you want to pre-order this book so it pops straight onto your kindle on December 1^st then pop over here. Its only 99p/99c

UK http://amzn.to/1GQcNOt

US http://amzn.to/1S7aAOX

And if you haven’t read the first two books in the series yet, then pop over here and get your copy, all three books are 99p/99c at the moment

The Sentinel

UK http://amzn.to/1giKNVp

US http://amzn.to/IKSOUk

The Prophecies

UK http://amzn.to/1DZ8ECN

US http://amzn.to/1khpDuY

Review: Wendy Darling by Colleen Oakes

Posted on 10/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

I can never resist books that are in any way connected to Peter Pan, I’m just fascinated by Neverland and what it represents. So when I was offered the chance to review Wendy Darling, I couldn’t say yes fast enough!

Wendy Darling is a re-telling of Peter Pan told from 16 year old Wendy’s perspective. John is Mr Darling’s favourite child and Wendy feels desperate to be noticed by her father, she tries so hard to see the star that John can see so easily but she struggles and the disappointment she feels from her father is palpable.

Wendy spends as much time as she can visiting the local bookshop. She loves to read, but even more than that she loves to visit the bookseller’s son Booth. The two are growing closer but their romance seems to be doomed from the start as society dictates that Booth is just not an appropriate suitor so they meet in secret.

One night Mr and Mrs Darling go out for the evening and something very strange happens at the house. It is really quite sinister and leaves the children feeling very shaken, until Peter Pan appears at the window and takes them all off on an adventure.

I have to be honest and say I found some of the things that happened in Neverland a little long-winded and slow, I was initially more captivated by Wendy’s romance with Booth and was longing to see more of that, I didn’t want to be taken away from that storyline. Having said that, where the book keeps you hooked is with this much more overtly sinister version of Neverland. It was always possible to see the darkness in JM Barrie’s original story but it’s much more extreme in Oakes’ re-telling. Oakes takes the nightmarish elements to fantastic extremes and danger is everywhere, especially for Wendy. It’s about how nothing is as it seems, and the idealism of a perfect world is never going to be as you’d thought.

Peter Pan has always felt a little creepy to me but in this version he is sociopathic. He appears very loving and kind one minute and the next his personality becomes very menacing, and actually often downright evil. I loved that Wendy was older in this re-telling as it gives a whole new dynamic to her and Peter’s relationship. There is an undeniable sexual chemistry from the beginning of the book, Wendy is drawn to him and cannot stop herself from staring at him and wanting to be closer to him. Peter ultimately uses this against her though and there are a couple of scenes later in the book that are very shocking and disturbing. The contrast between the rather innocent kissing with Booth and the way that Peter Pan treats Wendy really highlights the way that Neverland represents the desires of a teenage girl and her inability to fully comprehend how dangerous the world can be for someone still so naive and innocent.

Wendy Darling is ultimately the story of an awakening, it’s about Wendy discovering her power as a young woman and how she can fight back against the things that imprison her. It’s about her discovering her longing to be a mother; the way Wendy takes to nurturing the lost boys is beautiful, she seems to have found her place with them and they adoringly look up to her wanting her to be their mother. I did very much appreciate how empowered Wendy is in this re-telling; she’s been taken from a character who is almost always portrayed as weak just because she’s just a girl to a young woman who can stand her ground, and who will speak up when she feels she needs to. It was fascinating to see the character of Wendy in this way.

I do have a real bugbear with this book though and that is that even when a book is a part of a series I strongly feel that each book in the series should have some sort of ending. I know they have to lead into the next book so you will want to buy it but this novel just stops and ends with the title of the next book. I have to be honest and say that this really irritated me and I’m not sure that I would read the next one because I would always be wondering if I was ever going to get an ending. I love open endings, I enjoy being left with lots to think about but to just stop dead at the end of a scene and announce the next book is actually infuriating.

There are aspects of this novel that are fascinating and compelling, but there are times when it falls a little flat and the lack of an ending is something I can’t ignore so I rate this novel 7 out of 10. I still highly recommend it, especially to people who are fascinated by Peter Pan, it’s a brilliant look at his character and it takes him to really sinister levels that always seem to be underlying his character in the original story.

I received this book from SparkPress in exchange for an honest review.

Wendy Darling is out now and available from Amazon.

Blog Tour & Giveaway | Review: What Rosie Found Next by Helen J Rolfe

Posted on 09/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

Today, I am thrilled to be kicking off the blog tour for Helen J Rolfe‘s new book What Rosie Found Next. Please keep reading to the end of my review as there is a fabulous giveaway for you to enter!

What Rosie Found Next is a gorgeous story about Rosie Stevens, a professional house sitter who hasn’t had the easiest life but is trying to move forward. She just wants to settle down and have some stability and security. Adam is Rosie’s long-term boyfriend but he’s very career-driven and, in the short term, this keeps preventing them from having the life that Rosie craves. Owen is the son of the home owners that Rosie is now house-sitting for. Owen is the opposite of Rosie, he leads a nomadic lifestyle with no home of his own and has no intentions of settling down with anyone ever.

I loved the dynamic between Owen and Rosie! From the very beginning, when he arrives unannounced at his parents’ home where Rosie is housesitting, and immediately starts antagonising her it was apparent that there was an underlying chemistry between these two characters. So from the start I was very much looking forward to seeing how things developed between them. As the novel went on, I really did like how these two characters became closer, they got to be friends and started looking out for each other and forming a much deeper connection. It wasn’t a straightforward boy meets girl novel and I very much enjoyed that it was different.

The mystery element, regarding Owen’s family, that runs through much of this novel was really interesting. I couldn’t work out why Owen was so set on searching his parents’ house but it is apparent that whatever secret is being kept from him, it’s something that has been affecting him for a long time and has perhaps made him the way he is. It works well because Owen goes away to find out the truth about the past and in his time away from Rosie we get to see the development of his character through what he finds out.

I adored Magnolia Creek, what a gorgeous setting; the descriptions of the town are such that you can really picture the place and I’d love to actually go visit! I loved Bella’s cafe, and Bella herself. She is the lynch-pin of the town bringing everyone together and lifting their worries for a little while with tea and freshly-baked scones.

I really enjoyed this novel, it was different to what I had been expecting but I loved that parts of it surprised me. It has a real depth to it and I became so invested in these characters and was really willing them on to find happiness. It’s a really heart-warming read and I can’t wait to read more books by Helen J. Rolfe in the future!

I rate this novel 8 out of 10.

What Rosie Found Next is out now and available from AMAZON UK and AMAZON US

Thank you to Brook Cottage Books for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What Rosie Found Next

Genre: Romantic fiction / Women’s fiction

Release Date: 3^rd November 2015

Owen Harrison is notoriously nomadic, and he roars into town on his Ducati for one reason and one reason only – to search his parents’ house while they’re away to find out what they’ve been hiding from him his entire life. When he meets Rosie, who refuses to quit the house-sit in his parents’ home, sparks fly.

Secrets are unearthed, promises are broken, friendships are put to the test and the real risk of bushfires under the hot Australian sun threatens to undo Rosie once and for all.

Will Rosie and Owen find what they want or what they really need?

ABOUT HELEN J ROLFE

Helen J Rolfe writes contemporary women’s fiction. She enjoys weaving stories about family, relationships, friendships, love, and characters who face challenges and fight to overcome them.

Born and raised in the UK, Helen spent fourteen years living in Australia before returning home. She now lives in Hertfordshire with her husband and children.

Facebook: http://facebook.com/helenjrolfe

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hjrolfe

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/helenjrolfe

As part of the book tour there is a chance to enter a giveaway for a chance to win £10 /$15 Amazon gift card. Please click on the link below to enter. Good luck!

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/4be03017116/?

Review: The Boy at the Beach – Short Story (Meet Cute) by Katey Lovell

Posted on 08/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

This is the second short story in Katey Lovell’s new Meet Cute series. I loved the first one because I can’t resist books or stories about bookshops (my review for that one is here). This second book was irresistible to me because it’s about two people who meet online. I met my husband on twitter many years ago so stories about couples who met online always interest me.

This story is a little different from the first one in that the majority of the story is about the two characters getting to know each other online, but it always feels absolutely believable that Lauren was beginning to fall for this boy through emails. I could feel the butterflies that Lauren had in the build up to her meeting Toby; she had already developed feelings for him and so badly wants to feel the same way when he’s standing in front of her, to find out if the chemistry they’ve felt through emails is there in real life. For me, this story had more depth to it than the first one because there is naturally more back story with them communicating online from the start.

The actual meet up is gorgeous. I reckon a few years from now these two could well be happily married and planning their whole lives together!

The amount of detail Katey packs into these short stories is incredible, she is such a talented writer. I’m not the biggest fan of short stories but these stories have me hooked, I found myself completely absorbed in this one. They are so succinctly written, it feels like it surely must have been longer than it was because it’s such a complete story – it has everything you could want in a meet cute!

I was very pleasantly surprised at just how different this story is to the first one, I did wonder if a series of very short stories all with the same theme of a meet cute might seem a little formulaic but I could not have been more wrong. Katey’s writing style is recognisable but beyond that this story is completely different. I can’t wait for the next one now!

This story cannot fail to make you feel smiley; it’s impossible for it not to give you a mood boost too so it’s perfect for a coffee break when you might want a little escape to a different place for ten minutes. I highly recommend this story, it’s fabulous! I rate it 10 out of 10.

The Boy at the Beach is available now on Amazon. The third story in this series, The Boy at the Bakery is available for pre-order on Amazon and is due to be published on 12th November.

Here are my reviews of The Boy in the Bookshop and The Boy Under the Mistletoe, two of the other short stories in this fab series.

The TBR Book Tag

Posted on 08/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

I recently saw the TBR Book Tag on CleopatraLovesBooks and thought it looked like fun so I’ve decided to have a go at answering the questions myself. I don’t know who originally started this tag but if anyone knows please tell me and I’ll amend this post to credit them.

I’m a bit nervous of joining in with this tag because I know how big my TBR but it’ll give you an insight into just how much of a bookaholic I really am! I know people define their TBR differently but for me, a TBR book is one I already own and doesn’t include wishlist books.

How do you keep track of your TBR pile?

I started my Goodreads account many years ago and from the day I signed up I’ve always added every book that comes into my possession onto there. I make sure to keep it up to date as it’s great to have an accurate record of all the books I own and all the books I’ve read.

Is your TBR mostly print or ebooks?

These days it’s mainly ebooks. I used to own literally thousands of books (it was over six thousand at one point). Around five years ago my husband bought me my first Kindle. I had always been against ebooks, I was a purist and I was always going to keep my print books but the lure of having any book I wanted instantly began to appeal to me, and then when we went away not having to take a massive suitcase on a three day trip just so I could take some books with me was liberating. These days my disability means it’s much easier for me to hold a Kindle. I can read print books but it’s harder for me to do because my hands no longer work properly so having a kindle means I can still read. This year my husband surprised me with the new Kindle Voyage for my birthday and it’s brilliant, the front-lit screen means it’s perfect for reading during the night when I can’t sleep too.

How do you determine which book from your TBR to read next?

Before I was a blogger it was as case of whichever book caught my eye as I scrolled through my kindle. Since I started receiving ARCs I keep these separately from my other books and I always prioritise review books. I read them in order of publication date but if I receive them after the publication date then I read them in the order that I received them, or to a date agreed with the publisher or author. I always have 4 or 5 books on the go at once, all different genres, so I try to have a book I’ve bought in the mix too.

A book that’s been on your TBR the longest?

I’ve had The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver on my TBR for about a decade. Every time I have a clear out of my books I spot this one on my bookcase and I always keep it because I really want to read it… and yet it’s still a TBR! Maybe one day…

A book you recently added to your TBR?

The Marble Collector by Cecelia Ahern. She is one of my favourite authors so I couldn’t resist buying this on publication day on Thursday!

A book on your TBR strictly because of its beautiful cover?

I’ve never bought a book strictly because of it’s cover. Having said that, now that I mainly read on Kindle, I find myself drawn to beautiful editions or special editions of books that I’ve read as an ebook and I do buy those for my bookcases. So it’s not strictly TBR books but it is still buying books for their beautiful covers. Fahrenheit 451 is my favourite book so I treasure my beautiful clothbound hardback edition that my husband bought me for my birthday a couple of years ago, it really is stunning. I also have some of the Penguin clothbound classics, my favourite of those is Tess of the D’Urbervilles as it’s another of my favourite books and this edition is gorgeous.

A book on your TBR that you never plan on reading?

Ooh, that’s a tough question! I think in my last big clear out a year ago I got rid of all the books I knew I’d never read. Actually, having said that, I did keep just a few of my mum’s books after she died, purely because they were precious to her. They’re not really my taste though and I probably won’t ever read them, that’s not to say that I don’t treasure them.

An unpublished book on your TBR that you’re excited to read?

There are so many books I could mention but I think it has to be either The Widow by Fiona Barton, or Look at Me by Sarah Duguid.

A book on your TBR that everyone has read except you?

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I love the sound of this book and I really do intend to read it one day but I’ve just yet to get around to it. It does seem to be a book that always pops up on lists and it’s one people still talk about so much and I really do feel like I must be in the minority of readers to not have read it yet.

A book on your TBR that everyone recommends to you?

A lot of people have told me to read The Accident Season recently and I love the sound of it, I just haven’t got around to reading it yet. It’s definitely one that I must try and bump up my TBR mountain soon though.

A book on your TBR that you’re dying to read?

The Winter Wedding by Abby Clements, I received a copy in the post this week and I cannot wait to start reading it! I’ve loved all of Abby’s previous books and her Christmas novel Meet Me Under the Mistletoe is one of my favourite ever Christmas books; I try to read it every Christmas as it never fails to get me in the festive spirit! So I’m hoping this new one will become another favourite!

How many books are in your goodreads TBR shelf?

I divide my TBR into three sections:

audiobooks TBR (31)

print books TBR (91)

ebooks TBR (4400),

So added together my TBR has 4522 books on it. I used to have a real fear of running out of books to read, I’m now at the stage of thinking I’m never going to be able to read all of the books that I want to!

Review: The Boy in the Bookshop – A Short Story (Meet Cute) by Katey Lovell

Posted on 07/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

The Boy in the Bookshop is the first in a new series of short stories. I don’t normally buy single short stories but I just couldn’t resist giving this one a try; I’m utterly powerless to resist a book or short story set in a book shop and I’m so glad I picked this up, it’s gorgeous!

This is a very short read and is absolutely perfect for a coffee break. Katey has packed so much into this story, it’s wonderful. The Beautiful Books bookshop sounds amazing and I really want to go there. Jade works in the book shop, and the cute boy is a customer; it’s very succinctly written with all the detail you need to fall in love with the characters and the story itself. You’re left with such a warm, fuzzy feeling by the end of the story!

This is such a fabulous meet cute, I love Katey’s writing style and I can’t wait to read more by her. In fact, I’ve just been to Amazon and bought the second one in the series, and pre-ordered the third! I’m hooked on these Meet Cute books!

I rate this 10 out of 10.

The Boy in the Bookshop is out now and available from Amazon.

Here are my reviews of The Boy at the Beach and The Boy Under the Mistletoe, two of the other short stories in this fab series.

Weekly Wrap-Up and Stacking the Shelves (7 November)

Posted on 07/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

This week has flown by! I’ve had a lot going on in real life this week and so haven’t read quite as much as I would have liked to but I still have lots of bookish things to share with you today.

I started my blog on 19th August this year but didn’t post my first review until 9th September so I’m almost at my two month anniversary of my first book review on here. It was lovely to notice that this week I actually posted my 40th review! I do review every book I read but I hadn’t realised that I’d already reviewed so many. It’s given me a much-needed boost after a week of not-so great news in real life.

I decided this week to add a new page link to the menu at the top of my blog. It is a list of my all-time favourite books. Even before I was a blogger I had a favourites shelf on my Goodreads account and a real-life favourite bookshelf in my home, and I realised when I read an incredible book this week that I really wanted to make a feature out of those books that are in another league of special. The books that rate 10 out of 10 and have that extra magical something that makes you want to treasure that book forever and ever, and you want to shout from the rooftops that everyone should read it! I haven’t yet got the skills to make this part of my blog look super fancy so it’s a work in progress but at least it’s there and every author that makes that section of my blog is very highly honoured. Here’s a link to the page: My Favourite Books of All-TIme! I also have a sideshow in my side-bar showing a loop of covers of the all-time favourite books!

This led me on to the realisation that as I’m a newbie blogger I’ve so far only reviewed one book that is on my favourites book shelf. So, for now I’m adding a list of my favourite books and ideally I’d like to re-read them all and do proper reviews. I don’t have time to do that as well as keep up with new books so I’m thinking i might start a mini reviews section on my blog where I share the blurb of a book and a few words about what it meant to me. This would just be for books on my favourites shelf so that you can all start to see why I love these books so much.

Also on my blog this week:

I currently have a fabulous giveaway (UK only) running for a gorgeous prize courtesy of Katy Hogan.

Katy Hogan has very kindly offered me this fabulous prize package so that I can run a giveaway. The giveaway is UK only this time. The prize is for one paperback copy of Out of the Darkness, a gorgeous Yankee Candle and a box of chocolates from Hotel Chocolat.

Please click here to read my review of this incredible book and to find the link to enter the giveaway. Good luck!

This week I have read four books and have posted reviews on all of them. (Click on the titles in the list below the pics to read my reviews)

Out of the Darkness by Katy Hogan (This book is the first book I’ve read since I started reviewing that has made it on to my all-time favourites shelf, it’s an incredible novel and I can’t recommend it highly enough)

The Little Bookshop on the Seine by Rebecca Raisin

Time to Die by Caroline Mitchell

How To Stuff Up Christmas by Rosie Blake

Books I’ve bought this week:

The Marble Collector by Cecelia Ahern

Katherine Carlyle by Rupert Thomson

Night Owls by Jenn Bennett

About Sisterland by Martina Devlin

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Indecent Acts by Nick Brooks

The Storytellers by Laurisa White Reyes

Snowdrops at the Star and Sixpence by Holly Hepburn

The Prodigal by Nicky Black

ARCS I’ve received this week:

The Winter Wedding by Abby Clements (Paperback)

Look At Me Sarah Duguid (Paperback)

Dead Pretty by David Mark (ebook)

The Stylist by Rosie Nixon (ebook)

The Secret by the Lake by Louise Douglas (ebook)

The Mince Pie Mix-Up by Jennifer Joyce (ebook)

Follow Me by Angela Clarke (ebook)

Don’t Jump by Vicki Abelson (ebook)

Also, I won this lovely signed book in a giveaway this week. It’s How to be Brave by Louise Beech and I can’t wait to read it.

Book Beginnings (6 November) Every Fifteen Minutes by Lisa Scottoline

Posted on 06/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

My Book Beginning

Every Fifteen Minutes by Lisa Scottoline

I’m a sociopath. I look normal, but I’m not. I’m smarter, better, and freer, because I’m not bound by rules, law, emotion, or regard for you. I can read you almost immediately, get your number right away, and push your buttons to make you do whatever I want. I don’t really like you, but I’m so good at acting as if I do that it’s basically the same thing. To you. I fool you. I fool everybody.

The opening lines to this novel are really short statements and very cold, it’s chilling to read them because this person is telling the reader that they are a sociopath and you really do feel that emanating from them. I deliberately haven’t read the synopsis on this book because I want to read it without knowing much about it but the opening lines certainly make me want to know more about this person and who it is they are fooling. I’m intrigued and I’m looking forward to reading more very soon.

Every Fifteen Minutes is due to be published on 19 November 2015.

Promo Post & Competition from Linn B Halton

Posted on 06/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

Author Linn B Halton is celebrating with a competition running from 5th November – 5 December, 2015!

In the UK, Falling: Angels Among Us The complete series (published by Harper Impulse) will be on the shelves in some of the WHSmith stores for a four-week promotion. The star of Falling, Ceri, is sprinkling a little ‘festive’ love …

Launching the Rafflecopter #FallingComp

1st prize – one lucky winner can choose a gift of their choice, valued at £100/$150* (International)
2nd prize – two lucky winners will each receive one signed paperback of A Cottage in the Country – released 23 Sept 2015 (UK only; non-UK ecopy)
3rd prize – six lucky winners will each receive an ebook of their choice from any of Linn’s titles (International)

*(gift to be chosen from across the Amazon stores, or full cash prize via Paypal if you prefer to shop locally)

Take part below – there are lots of different ways to join in the fun and get your chance to be a winner!

What would YOU choose?

A special something just for YOU?

Or use the CASH to pamper yourself – or even to help out with those holiday expenses!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
//widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js

Ceri thinks she sees angels … everywhere. She struggles to keep separate what feels like two very different sides to her life. As a manager in an advertising company she’s been working with the gorgeous Alex for two years. The have a friendship based upon the image she portrays whilst she’s at work and it helps to keep her sane. One mad, crazy night spent sharing their secrets and a lot of wine result in them ending up in bed together, and their relationship changes. When Alex explains that the reason he doesn’t date is because someone broke his heart, how can Ceri admit that she feels a deep connection to him?

Ceri knows she’s different. What she doesn’t fully appreciate, is that her task in life is to correct a series of incidents that affect some of the people’s lives with whom she comes into contact. She’s simply putting right little errors that could ripple outwards and change the course of their destiny. When she finds herself getting pulled into things that happen around her, how can she prove that she really has made a difference? Is it all in her head?

She’s alone for a reason; she’s not meant to fall in love in her earthly life. Alex is supposed to cross paths with her and help Ceri, during a phase where she begins to question the signs she’s being given. It’s meant to be a turning point for them both—but in opposite directions. They are destined to travel very different paths … but Ceri doesn’t know that and neither does Alex …

Someone has to win and it could be YOU!

Falling: Angels Among Us the series
is published by Harper Impulse.

Author website: http://linnbhalton.co.uk/
Linn’s books: http://smarturl.it/LinnBHaltonbooks

Entrants must be over 18 years of age. A gift (or gifts) to the value of £100/$150 may be chosen by the designated winner from Amazon, OR funds to that value will be transferred into the winner’s PayPal account upon receipt of details.

Proof of entry requirements must be met before the prizes are awarded.

Winner(s) will be contacted by email within 5 workings after the giveaway ends.

Review: How To Stuff Up Christmas by Rosie Blake

Posted on 05/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

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How To Stuff Up Christmas is a brilliant novel that is both hilariously funny and incredibly heart-warming, I enjoyed reading it so much!

Eve recently split up with her fiancé after she accidentally spotted a rather incriminating photo on his phone. After spending a couple of months feeling heartbroken, Eve realises that she can’t face spending Christmas with her family this year as there will be too many reminders of how happy she was the previous Christmas when she and Liam got engaged. Eve considers lots of options for her break but in the end she rents a narrowboat for a month so that her dog, Marmite can go with her. She also signs up for pottery classes to keep her occupied while she’s away.

Greg is a man of mystery for quite a lot of the novel. He is obviously a lovely man, he’s a vet with a heart of gold who not only wants to do the best for the animals he cares for but he shows real kindness to their owners too. Greg has something in his private life that he doesn’t want to talk about and it’s weighing heavily on him.

Greg and Eve meet when he comes to her rescue, there is obviously a mutual attraction between them but they’re both wary of getting involved. They become friends and Greg helps Eve learn to cook. At some points in the novel the story is told from Eve’s point of view and then in the next chapter there is the same scene told from Greg’s perspective. It was great to see how they were both really feeling, and it really showed how they were putting their guards up to protect themselves from getting hurt. It made me want to climb into the novel and tell them to give each other a chance, I was willing them to get together!

I loved Eve’s friendship with Daisy. The way they were together at work finding ways to run rings around their boss, the way Daisy supports Eve through her break up with Liam. It’s the kind of friendship we’d all love to have; the kind of friend who’ll forgive you for giving them food poisoning! I spent the novel hoping that Daisy didn’t know anything that could hurt Eve, it was worrying because sometimes even your best friends can let you down.

The closer it got to Christmas the more I was willing Eve’s broken heart to heal faster. Her family have always made a big deal of Christmas, like most families they have their traditions and they stick to them every year. Eve’s family really don’t want her to go away for Christmas and her mum especially doesn’t want to face the fact that she really isn’t planning on being there. It made me sad to think that Eve, who had always had such wonderful, big happy Christmases could feel they were completely ruined by Liam. It made me hate Liam even more for what he’d done!

There are some brilliant characters in this novel. I especially loved Eve’s colourblind dad and all his wacky outfits, and I nearly spat my drink out laughing when we met Minnie at the art course and she describes to Raj what she’s making in the pottery class! I just wasn’t expecting her to say what she did, it’s hysterical! I have to mention the crazy geese too, they were funny (and also a little bit terrifying!).

I also loved the recipes at the start of some of the chapters; the recipes always relate to food that is mentioned in the chapter. I thought it was brilliant how in amongst recipes for chocolate biscuit cake and gingerbread were recipes for making a Pot Noodle and beans on toast – this made me laugh so much. It just said so much about Eve’s ability to cook!

This is such an enjoyable novel and I highly recommend you buy it! It’s heart-warming, it’s hilarious, it’s just a perfect book to curl up with on these cold autumn/winter nights!

I rate this book 8 out of 10, it’s such an enjoyable read. This is the first novel I’ve read by Rosie Blake but I’ve already bought her previous book, How To Get A (Love) Life and hope to read it very soon.

Thank you to Corvus for very kindly sending me How To Stuff Up Christmas.

How To Stuff Up Christmas is out today and available on Amazon.

Author Interview with Emily Benet about #PleaseRetweet

Posted on 05/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

Emily Benet‘s fabulous book #PleaseRetweet is published in paperback today for the first time! I read it a few weeks ago and absolutely loved it, you can read my review here. I was very lucky to have the opportunity to interview Emily recently and couldn’t resist asking her about all things Social Media!

When did you first join twitter? What made you join?

February 2009. I had to check that. I don’t want you thinking I celebrate my Twitter anniversary or anything! I had already been blogging for a year and saw Twitter as another way of reaching potential readers.

How quickly did it feel quite normal for you to share things about your life with your followers, and how long was it before you were checking twitter every chance you got?

I was very open from the start. My blog, which was turned into the book, Shop Girl Diaries, tells my whole journey to publication with all the highs and lows. It’s very personal really with a dollop of romance in there too. No real names, though! The dark, handsome hero is referred to as ‘The Date’!

Whereas blogging felt natural, I didn’t get Twitter at first. I felt like I was in the middle of a busy airport and everyone was just shouting at each other. I got into it about three years ago.

Have you ever tweeted while drunk/half asleep or attempted to send a DM and instead accidentally shared the tweet publicly on your timeline? Is it something you can share?

I’m more likely to drunk text, than drunk tweet. I have tweeted drunkenly but never anything of consequence, just silly comments about Eurovision. I once tweeted that my husband had just lopped his own hair off with a scissors. His sister texted him about that and he asked me, how does she know about my hair? He doesn’t like me tweeting about him so it was a bit awkward! Sometimes you need to ask yourself, Why am I sharing this with the whole world?

Do you go on twitter whenever you have a spare minute or do you allow yourself regular times throughout the day?

There is no structure to my Twitter life. I check whenever I get a notification and tweet completely randomly, but always daily.

Have you ever felt that you were addicted to twitter, or going on it too often? How did you deal with it?

I know I’m going on it too much when my daily word count suffers. I hate the feeling of wasting time. Tweeting isn’t half as fulfilling as writing a novel, and it can leave me feeling a little empty if my attention has been spent more on social media than writing.

I recently had a social media detox and was offline for a week. I deleted the Twitter and Facebook apps from my phone. It was really liberating. At the same time it was alarming how my brain kept composing tweets!

What inspired you to start writing PleaseRetweet?

It was a mixture of wanting to laugh at social media and make sense of it. It’s something that has had such a positive influence in my life with regards to my writing career and can be an amazing tool for creativity and community. But it can also get in the way of you living life and enjoying the moment. I hate it when people meet up and spend more time on their phones than actually talking to each other. I also hate people taking selfies all the time. It’s so boring. It’s basically the same photo over and over and over…. I suppose I wanted to get all that down on paper!

Is life better now we have social media or was it better before?

What social media has done for freedom of speech and enabling the broadcast of important issues is incredible. With social media we can get different perspectives that aren’t offered in mainstream news. It has motivated people to help lots of great causes. On the other hand, being bombarded by so much information and so many opinions, not to mention the trolls and haters, can be difficult to process and can cause anxiety. There are plenty of pros and cons. How long have you got?

Do you believe it’s possible for people to form true friendships and relationships on twitter? Have you made any?

Yes! I have two very good friends on Twitter. We are completely different ages and we all first met at a book launch after months of tweeting. As for romantic relationships, I have heard of bloggers meeting after tweeting and hooking up. The internet has been the catalyst of a lot of romance!

Did you use your own experiences of twitter in PleaseRetweet? Or did anything you read on twitter inspire aspects of the story?

I couldn’t have written the book if I hadn’t been very active on social media myself. The first thing I did when I decided to write #PleaseRetweet was to follow all those people I’d originally unfollowed on Facebook. Some people have no filter at all and post some really wonderfully, cringe worthy status updates! There are lots of observations of myself too; the constant checking and scrolling and the feeling of inadequacy when no one responds to a tweet. I enjoyed taking the mick out of myself!

What do you do to relax away from social media?

Reading- surprise surprise! I’m a huge fan of hilarious John O’Farrell and the brilliant Liane Moriarty. It’s the perfect escapism. I also love watching Downton abbey, even if the plot is a bit rubbish. I’m happiest outside though. I love the sea, mountains… and anything cooked on a barbeque.

Thank you so much for your time, Emily. I wish you all the best with the paperback release of #PleaseRetweet.

Emily is on the following social media sites:

Social Media Links:

www.emilybenet.com
www.twitter.com/EmilyBenet
www.facebook.com/EmilyBenetAuthor

Optional You Tube video: https://youtu.be/n6TjNUy_iQM

Amazon link: http://hyperurl.co/v47754

Biog:
Emily Benet is a half Welsh – half Spanish Londoner, currently living on the beautiful island of Mallorca. Wherever she’s lived her passion for writing has followed.

Her debut book Shop Girl Diaries began as a blog about working in her Mum’s eccentric chandelier shop. It won the CompletelyNovel Author Blog Awards at the London Book Fair.

Her second book, a romantic comedy called The Temp, also began its life online, as a serialised novel on Wattpad and racked up two million hits under its original title Spray Painted Bananas. It led to her signing with MBA agency and a two book deal with Harper Collins imprint Harper Impulse. #PleaseRetweet is her latest book.

WWW Wednesday (4th November)

Posted on 04/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

The three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

What I’m reading now:

Lost Girls by Angela Marsons (Due to be published 6th November 2015) I started reading this book yesterday and it’s so good. It’s one of those books that’s really hard to put down once you’ve started reading!

Blurb:

Two girls go missing. Only one will return.

The couple that offers the highest amount will see their daughter again. The losing couple will not. Make no mistake. One child will die.

And when a second text message pits the two families against each other for the life of their children, the clock starts ticking for D.I. Kim Stone and the squad.

Untangling a dark web of secrets from the families’ past might hold the key to solving this case. But can Kim stay alive long enough to do so? Or will someone’s child pay the ultimate price?

What Rosie Found Next by Helen Rolfe (Out now) I started reading this book yesterday too and am really enjoying it. I’m on the blog tour for this book so my review will be posted as part of that on 9th November.

Blurb:

A shaky upbringing has left Rosie Stevens craving safety and security. She thinks she knows exactly what she needs to make her life complete – the stable job and perfect house-sit she’s just found in Magnolia Creek. The only thing she wants now is for her long-term boyfriend, Adam, to leave his overseas job and come home for good.
Owen Harrison is notoriously nomadic, and he roars into town on his Ducati for one reason and one reason only – to search his parents’ house while they’re away to find out what they’ve been hiding from him his entire life. When he meets Rosie, who refuses to quit the house-sit in his parents’ home, sparks fly.
Secrets are unearthed, promises are broken, friendships are put to the test and the real risk of bushfires under the hot Australian sun threatens to undo Rosie once and for all.
Will Rosie and Owen be able to find what they want or what they really need?

The Single Feather by Ruth F. Hunt (Out now) I just picked this book up a little while ago and am really intrigued by it, I’m looking forward to reading more!

Blurb:

Rachel had to escape from where she was living, and that was hard enough, but now the 31 year old, paraplegic has to regain her independence and feel accepted in her new town. The problem is to do that, she feels she has to hide how and why she got injured and her recent experiences with the ‘guards’.
She joins an art group, unaware her fellow members also have secrets. As tension rises and the group splits into factions, with the ever-present possibility of being returned to her former life, Rachel realises to move on means confronting her past.

How to Stuff Up Christmas by Rosie Blake (Due to be published 5th November 2015) I started reading this at the weekend and am very much enjoying it. I’m a little slower reading it purely because it’s a paperback rather than a kindle copy so it’s a bit harder for me to hold and read due to my disability. It’s a fab book though, I definitely recommend buying it tomorrow!

Blurb:

‘Tis the season to be jolly. Unless you’ve found an intimate picture of another woman on your fiance’s phone…
Eve is heartbroken after discovering her fiance is cheating on her. Being surrounded by the joys of Christmas is more than Eve can bear, so she chooses to avoid the festivities by spending Christmas alone on a houseboat in Pangbourne. Eve gets gets an unexpected seasonal surprise when handsome local vet Greg comes to her rescue one day, and continues to visit Eve’s boat on a mission to transform her from Kitchen Disaster Zone to Culinary Queen.
But where does Greg keep disappearing to? What does Eve’s best friend Daisy know that she isn’t telling? And why is there an angry goose stalking Eve’s boat?
A hilarious and heart-warming novel about Christmas, catastrophes and cooking, containing exclusive Christmas recipes, from the talented Rosie Blake.

A Notable Woman ed. by Simon Garfield (Due to be published on 5th November 2015) I started reading this book last week and am thoroughly enjoying it. It’s such a beautiful and fascinating read, I can’t recommend it highly enough. It’s a long book and I want to take my time to read it and savour it all.

Blurb:

What I recently finished reading:

(Click the titles in the list below the pics to read my reviews and more about the books)

Out of the Darkness by Katy Hogan I am currently running a giveaway where you can win one paperback copy of this book plus a gorgeous Yankee candle and a box of chocolates from Hotel Chocolat. Please click on my review to find out how to enter!

Time to Die by Caroline Mitchell

The Little Bookshop on the Seine by Rebecca Raisin

Written in the Scars by Mel Sherratt

Merry Mistletoe by Emma Davies

What I plan on reading next:

Winter’s Fairytale by Maxine Morrey (Due to be published on 10th November 2015)

Blurb:

A few weeks before Christmas and a sudden blanketing of snow has closed the roads and brought public transport grinding to a halt, stranding Izzy miles from home and in desperate need of rescuing.

That doesn’t mean she’s looking to bump into Rob and spend a cosy weekend holed up in his swanky flat watching London become a winter wonderland! Because Izzy and Rob have history…

Six months ago, they were standing in the vestry of a beautiful country church, while best man Rob delivered the news that every bride dreads on their big day.

But at the time of year when anything is possible, can Rob and Izzy let go of the past and let Christmas work its magic? Or will this be one holiday wish that Izzy lets walk right out of her life…

For the Record by Charlotte Huang (Due to be published 10th November 2015)

Blurb:

Chelsea thought she knew what being a rock star was like . . . until she became one. After losing a TV talent show, she slid back into small-town anonymity. But one phone call changed everything

Now she’s the lead singer of the band Melbourne, performing in sold-out clubs every night and living on a bus with three gorgeous and talented guys. The bummer is that the band barely tolerates her. And when teen hearthrob Lucas Rivers take an interest in her, Chelsea is suddenly famous, bringing Melbourne to the next level—not that they’re happy about that. Her feelings for Beckett, Melbourne’s bassist, are making life even more complicated.

Chelsea only has the summer tour to make the band—and their fans—love her. If she doesn’t, she’ll be back in Michigan for senior year, dying a slow death. The paparazzi, the haters, the grueling schedule . . . Chelsea believed she could handle it. But what if she can’t?

What Happens at Christmas by T. A. Williams (Out Now) I’m part of the blog tour for this book so my review will be posted as part of that in a couple of weeks time.

Blurb:

For the perfect Christmas…

When career-girl Holly Brice learns that her estranged father has died, she decides to take a trip down memory lane and find out about the man she never knew.

Happy Reading!

ENDED! Review & Giveaway of Out of the Darkness by Katy Hogan

Posted on 04/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

EDIT: The Giveaway associated with this posted has ended!

Out of the Darkness is genuinely one of the best books I’ve read in years and will absolutely be in my top 10 books of this year!

it is an incredibly moving, and very beautiful novel about three women who are each dealing with a loss; it’s a really honest look at the ways people grieve and how it affects everyone around them, but it’s also about the way people heal after loss and the novel is ultimately a very uplifting read that brings real solace with it.

Jessica is heartbroken over the death of her mum, they were best friends and life just doesn’t feel worth anything to her anymore. She sleepwalks through the things she has to do but nothing is enjoyable to her, she just can’t see a way through life without her mum. Then one evening she meets Finn and the two of them just really connect. Finn is the first person to make Jess feel like there might be something to be happy about again and she hopes he will be in touch again after they go their separate ways the following morning.

Hannah attends the same bereavement group as Jess but she is completely closed down about her loss. She is grief-stricken and it’s affecting every aspect of her life, she is consumed with guilt but just can’t bring herself to share what has happened.

Alex has just moved to Brighton, and is now living in the house next to where the bereavement group is held. Soon after moving in strange things begin happening in her home and she starts to think the place is haunted.

One day, after the bereavement group, Jess faints outside and Alex and Hannah rush to help her and make sure she is okay. From this point the three women become friends and offer a much-needed support to each other. Their lives begin to become intwined and the psychic medium they later go and see together plays a huge part in the bond they form.

This novel is an exploration of how people deal with grief. Jess and Hannah both grieve differently for their losses loved ones but ultimately they relate to each other because they have both experienced loss. The three women have such different expectations when they begin to explore mediums and experts in the paranormal. Hannah wants to know her loved one is okay, Alex wants to know if her house is haunted and what she can do to be rid of the ghosts, and Jessica doesn’t really believe in any of it. Yet they all ultimately find comfort from what they learn. I found it fascinating how the idea of ghosts and the spirits that come through for psychic mediums were explored as one and the same thing in this novel. I think most of us think of ghosts as being a spooky or malevolent entity, and yet when we think of the possibly of an afterlife for lost loved ones, it is seen as a comforting concept. Katy Hogan has brought the two together as one thing, considering the idea that perhaps ghosts can be lost loved ones trying to contact or help those left behind. It gave me a lot to ponder over.

This is also a novel that really celebrates how wonderful and strong female friendship can be. Jess and Hannah meet at a bereavement group at the lowest points of their lives, and they meet Alex right after one of these meetings. They begin to let each other in to their respective lives and they form such a close bond very quickly, and the bond is never broken. To see women support each other was really lovely. There was never a moment of jealousy or cattiness between these women, it’s quite a rare thing in a novel. It was refreshing to see how their relationship to each other is bonded by how they support and look out for each other.

I deliberately took my time with this book and I read it slowly over quite a few days as I wanted to savour it and take it all in, I’m so glad I did as it gave me chance to really absorb what I was reading each day. This novel has so much depth to it and works on so many levels, it is such brilliant writing. The friendship between Jess, Alex and Hannah is a wonderful story in itself and gives the novel a grounding in reality that then makes the exploration of mediums and the afterlife much more intense and real. I think the biggest theme in this book though is the exploration of fate and destiny. From the very start of this book it felt like these women were destined to meet, like they were being brought together for a reason. I had no idea why but it just felt that way. Even Jess meeting Finn and him making her feel like she might be able to be happy again just seemed like either fate or like something was pushing them towards each other. This again gave me so much to think about because fate can be considered as just a series of coincidences that when we look back and see how things came together it seems like it was engineered that way, or it can be seen as our lost loved ones finding ways to point us in the direction we need to go in to find happiness again.

This novel can also be read on a very metaphorical and at times allegorical way, I loved the part of the book where Alex goes out on a boat called Guiding Light. It seemed like she was almost out of her own body and seeing the world from a different angle, and at the same time like she was receiving a message about the direction of her own life. I don’t want to post any spoilers for this novel so I’m being careful in what I write but I highly recommend taking your time with this novel so you can fully appreciate how much meaning and depth there is in it.

Out of the Darkness broke my heart in the first few chapters; I could feel Jess’s devastation at the loss of her mum. I wanted to reach through the pages of the book and tell her that in time she would feel better, that she would be able to deal with it once the rawness of her initial grief began to pass. I understood her feelings about visiting The Beacon to see a paranormal expert for the first time with Alex. I’m very like Jessica in that I’ve never really believed in an afterlife but then I still have moments where I can smell my mum’s perfume all of a sudden and it’s like she’s right there in the room, and just for that moment I stop and wonder. Perhaps it’s just a memory popping up but you can’t help but feel comforted when it happens, just like how Jess does.

Katy Hogan explores grief in such a beautiful and gentle way. She has written a book that will more than likely make you cry but it will ultimately leave you feeling healed. I wish I could put into words exactly how this book made me feel when I got to the end but I can’t seem to express it, it’s just the most amazing and brilliant novel and it made me feel better. I read this as an ebook but now so badly wish I had a paper copy so I could just hold it for a little while and then put it down where I can see it. I think I need a physical reminder in my home of all that this book stands for. It doesn’t shy away from death, it doesn’t take an easy road. At times the story turns in a way you don’t expect and it leaves you quite breathless. But ultimately this book makes death feel a lot less scary, and it makes the weight of grief feel that little bit easier to bear.

Out of the Darkness is absolutely going to be my book of the year. It’s both broken my heart and healed it; it was moving and beautiful and perfect. I’d rate it a hundred out of ten if I could, but as I can’t it’s a huge ten out of ten and it’s getting a very rare place on my favourites book shelf.

Out of the Darkness: A Tale of Love, Loss and Life After Death is out now and available from Amazon.

For more information about Katy and Out of the Darkness, check out her website here: http://www.outofthedarknessnovel.com

PLEASE NOTE: The giveaway below has now ended. You can find out who the winner was here.

To enter, please click HERE to be taken to the Rafflecopter page

Review: Time to Die by Caroline Mitchell

Posted on 03/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

Time to Die is a real thriller of a book and the supernatural aspects of it will have you on the edge of your seat throughout! This is the second book in the series about psychic detective Jennifer Knight, but it’s the first one I’ve read and it works perfectly well as a standalone. Jennifer is working as part of Operation Moonlight, a group of officers who deal with cases that have a paranormal angle to them. They are currently working on infiltrating a particularly disrtubing cult known as The Reborners.

Whilst in the midst of that case Jennifer is called out to a suspected suicide but it soon becomes apparent that all is not quite as it seemed. Operation Moonlight begin to wonder if there could be a connection to The Reborners. The officers’ abilities are tested to the limit when they realise they have a serial killer on their hands, he is known as The Raven; he has psychic abilities of his own and can seemingly use his tarot cards to predict the deaths of everyone he reads the cards for. The more we learn about The Raven the more creepy and sinister the novel gets.

There is definitely a nod to Hitchcock throughout this novel, there are elements of Psycho and The Birds. The scene in the woods with the ravens and Jennifer is the stuff of nightmares, but even the way ravens seem to be following Jennifer or waiting for her when she comes home is incredibly creepy; it really is sinister.

I liked Jennifer, she was an interesting character and I’d like to know more about her. I found the way she and The Raven had little quirks in common made the novel fascinating, like they almost mirrored each other at times, with her on the good side and he on the evil. The Raven was always scratching at his skin and Jennifer has OCD when it comes to keeping her hands clean, they both had visions that at times seemed to be connected. I also liked that Jennifer’s past was delved into a little bit and also that we begin to see her form a relationship, it was great to see a well-rounded detective; it wasn’t just about her psychic abilities and her desire to solve the case.

The reason I haven’t read Caroline’s first novel yet, and why I put off reading this one is because I’m a total wimp, and the thought of anything supernatural or paranormal just absolutely terrifies me. I’m so glad that I was encouraged to pick this book up though because while it was the stuff of nightmares for me, I found I couldn’t put it down. It’s such a well-written novel that even though there were times I was quite literally on the edge of my seat, holding my breath with fear, I just had to keep reading. It is so good!

I rate this book 8 out of 10. This was the first book I’ve read by Caroline Mitchell but I’m definitely going to go back and read the first book in this series, and I absolutely can’t wait for the next book!

I received this book from Bookouture via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Time to Die is out now and available from Amazon.

I’ve read and reviewed this as part of #BookoutureThriller week, which is running on twitter from 31 October to 6 November. See the pic below for more details and please feel free to join in.

Review: The Little Bookshop on the Seine by Rebecca Raisin

Posted on 02/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

Today is my stop on Rebecca Raisin’s The Little Bookshop on the Seine book blog tour!

Little Bookshop on the Seine

My review:

I knew I was going to love The Little Bookshop on the Seine as soon as I read the blurb, it just sounded magical and exactly my type of book. I’ve always adored books about books and bookshops.

Sarah runs a little bookshop in Ashford, a small town where she has always lived, and where she knows everyone and everyone knows her. She gets offered the chance to do a six-month book shop swap with her dear friend Sophie, who runs the Once Upon a Time book shop in Paris and decides to go for it.

Sarah is a total romantic, she is whimsical and a daydreamer. She adores her books and she absolutely believes in happily ever afters. She’s always wanted to go to Paris and immediately dreams about exploring the city hand-in-hand with her man, Ridge, but it doesn’t quite go as she imagines it would. She finds she has to hit the ground running when she arrives in Paris. Once Upon a Time is a very busy shop with staff that seem to come and go at will, and who offer no support to Sarah. She quickly becomes exhausted and stressed and begins to question whether she has made the right decision in coming to Paris.

Then she meets Oceane, who also works at Once Upon a Time part-time, and she takes Sarah under her wing. She helps her shop for new clothes to update her look, she encourages her to take time away from the shop and helps her to explore the real Paris and not just the tourist side of the city. Oceane introduces Sarah to Anouk, who runs an antique jewellery shop, and I loved meeting her. She is just so quirky; the idea that she picks pieces out for customers and will only sell them what she feels is right for them! Just wonderful!

I assumed this novel was going to be focused on the romance between Sarah and Ridge but actually that isn’t really the main focus at all. Their relationship doesn’t quite go as Sarah hoped while she is in Paris and the romance of the book is actually very much more between Sarah and Paris itself. She falls head over heels in love with the city as it begins to cast its magical spell on her. Sarah goes from being quite naive and gauche to slowly, with Oceane’s help, beginning to find her sense of style and to dress with a more chic Parisian look. She gradually becomes more comfortable with the language and it’s wonderful to see her confidence grow. Sarah really does find herself in Paris, she becomes bolder and stronger and it’s wonderful to see. I loved that she never stops being herself though: she doesn’t change into a different person entirely, you still see all her nervous tics but she becomes the best version of herself. It was great how the focus wasn’t what I expected, it added another dimension to the novel.

I adore the way Sarah feels about her books; her ‘book babies’ as she refers to them. The sound of a spine cracking, the way old books smell, the ‘lemony-scent’ of new books. I swear I could hear and see and smell everything that Sarah was experiencing in the book shop, the descriptions were that vivid. The sheer love of books just radiates off the page in this novel. Sarah’s face actually flushes with love at one point, like someone in the beginning of a new love affair, when she explores Once Upon a Time! I think all of us bookworms have been there on discovering a fantastic new book shop! I want to go visit Once Upon a Time, I want to sit and read in all the little rooms, I want to buy books there. This novel is a love letter to Paris, and even more so a love letter to books; it is absolutely a must-read book for book lovers.

I rated this book 10 out of 10, I absolutely loved it!

Synopsis of The Little Bookshop on the Seine

La Vie En Rose

Bookshop owner Sarah Smith has been offered the opportunity to exchange bookshops with her new Parisian friend for 6 months! And saying yes is a no-brainer – after all, what kind of a romantic would turn down a trip to Paris…for Christmas?

Even if it does mean leaving the irresistible Ridge Warner behind, Sarah’s sure she’s in for the holiday of a lifetime – complete with all the books she can read!

Imagining days wandering around Shakespeare & Co, munching on croissants, sipping café au laits and watching the snow fall on the Champs-Élysées Sarah boards the plane.

But will her dream of a Parisian Happily-Ever-After come true? Or will Sarah realise that the dream of a Christmas fairytale in the city of love isn’t quite as rosy in reality…

A deliciously feel-good Christmas romance perfect for fans of Debbie Johnson and Julia Williams

he Little Paris Collection:

The Little Bookshop on the Seine

The Little Antique Shop under the Eiffel Tower

The Little Perfume Shop off the Champs-Élysées

Also by Rebecca Raisin

The Gingerbread Café trilogy:
Christmas at the Gingerbread Café
Chocolate Dreams at the Gingerbread Café
Christmas Wedding at the Gingerbread Café

The Bookshop on the Corner
Secrets at the Maple Syrup Farm

Amazon UK http://amzn.to/1LfJJzO

Amazon US http://amzn.to/1KR2Wck

iBooks https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/little-bookshop-on-seine-little/id1022785186?mt=11

Nook http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-little-bookshop-on-the-seine-rebecca-raisin/1121263193?ean=9781474030786

Kobo https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/the-little-bookshop-on-the-seine-the-little-paris-collection-book-1-1

Sainsbury’s

https://www.sainsburysentertainment.co.uk/ebooks/The-Little-Bookshop-On-The-Seine-The-Little-Paris-Collection-Book-1-/Rebecca-Raisin/9781474030786

About the Author

Rebecca-Raisin author pic

Rebecca Raisin is a bibliophile. This love of books morphed into the desire to write them. She’s been widely published in various short-story anthologies, and in fiction magazines, and is now focusing on writing romance. The only downfall about writing about gorgeous men who have brains as well as brawn is falling in love with them – just as well they’re fictional. Rebecca aims to write characters you can see yourself being friends with. People with big hearts who care about relationships, and, most importantly, believe in true, once-in-a-lifetime love.

Follow her on twitter @jaxandwillsmum

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RebeccaRaisinAuthor

Website rebeccaraisin.com

My October Wrap-Up Post!

Posted on 01/11/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

For my monthly wrap up this month I want start by taking the time to say a huge thank you to all of you who have ever read a post on my blog, or liked, or commented; to all of you who have share a post that I’ve written on social media; to all of you who have clicked to follow my blog. I have been blogging now since the end of August this year and never expected that anyone would read it. I started my blog because I needed a project, something fun to focus on, and a book blog seemed the perfect thing for a bookaholic like me.

I made it my aim to post something book-related every day and I think I’ve just about managed to keep to that. Mostly I write reviews but I also have my own bookish memories series, I join in with a couple of weekly memes, and I always do a weekly and monthly wrap up post as well. Since the end of August my blog has had almost 1200 visitors, over 2800 views and it has over 600 followers from various places. Last week I earned my Net Galley badge for Top Reviewer, which was a lovely surprise and a real confidence boost.

Through book blogging I have achieved something for me again, I have found something that I can do for myself and I don’t have the words to explain how big a deal that is for me right now (but trust me, it’s a huge deal!). To find that people are reading and sharing my blog posts has given me such a much-needed lift and I am so incredibly grateful.

Thank you so much!

Anyway, on with the books!

I read eighteen books in October and have reviewed seventeen of them (Please click the titles to read the reviews). The list is in the order I read them.

Dying to be Slim by Abby Beverley

Six Poets: From Hardy to Larkin by Alan Bennett

The Lies We Tell by Meg Carter

Pretending to Dance by Diane Chamberlain

24 Hours by Claire Seeber

The Broken Hearts Book Club by Lynsey James

The Good Neighbor by Amy Sue Nathan

13 Minutes by Sarah Pinborough

The Girl with no Past by Kathryn Croft

One Wish in Manhattan by Mandy Baggot

Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses by Jenny Hale

Get Yourself Organized for Christmas by Kathi Lipp

Snowflakes on Silver Cove by Holly Martin

The Record Store of the Mind by Josh Rosenthal

What We Left Behind by Robin Talley

Merry Mistletoe by Emma Davies

Written in the Scars by Mel Sherratt

The Little Bookshop on on the Seine by Rebecca Raisin (my review will be on my blog tomorrow as it’s my stop on the blog tour!)

This month’s reading has reminded my of two of the best things about being a reader and a book blogger:

(1) Discovering authors you’ve not read before and enjoying their book so much you feel compelled to buy all of their previous work right away! This month this happened to me FIVE times!! I read Mandy Baggot, Claire Seeber, Lynsey James and Emma Davies for the first time and have now bought just about all of their previous books. I also read my second Holly Martin book, which just confirmed what a fabulous writer she is and now all of her books are on my Kindle waiting to be read soon too!

(2) When an author you are a massive fan of releases a new book! Mel Sherratt’s new book, which was just released on Friday, is the fourth in her Estate series and I loved it (review here). I have read all of her previous books and they’re all completely brilliant! I bought and read Taunting the Dead back when it was self-published, and have been a huge a fan from that point on!

Which books did you read in October? Have you found any new-to-you authors? Please share with me in the comments below (and feel free to leave a link back to your own blog).

My Weekly Wrap-Up and Stacking the Shelves (31 October)

Posted on 31/10/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

I can’t believe it’s Saturday again already, it’s been yet another busy bookish week here!

Bookouture Christmas week came to an end on 27th October. As you may remember, I ran a giveaway to win some fab ebooks. Thank you again to everyone who entered, the winners are all listed in this post in case you missed the announcement. By the way, Bookouture are now running a #BookoutureThriller week, read my post to the end to read details of how you can take part. There are great prizes on offer!

I was very excited this week to discover that I’d earned a new badge on Net Galley. I now have the Top Reviewer badge, which is the one you get when so many of your Net Galley reviews have been chosen to feature on publisher’s title pages.

This week I have read four books (Click the links in the list below the book pics to read my reviews)

What We Left Behind by Robin Talley

The Record Store of the Mind by Josh Rosenthal

Merry Mistletoe by Emma Davies

Written in the Scars by Mel Sherratt

I’m currently reading:

The Little Bookshop on the Seine by Rebecca Raisin

I’m a part of the blog tour for this book so my review will be up on Monday (2nd November). I can tell you that it’s a wonderful novel and if you love reading books about books this one will be for you!

Blurb:

Le Vie En Rose

Even if it does mean leaving the irresistible Ridge Warner behind, Sarah’s sure she’s in for the holiday of a lifetime – complete with all the books she can read!

Imagining days wandering around Shakespeare & Co, munching on croissants, sipping café au laits and watching the snow fall on the Champs-Élysées Sarah boards the plane.

But will her dream of a Parisian Happily-Ever-After come true? Or will Sarah realise that the dream of a Christmas fairytale in the city of love isn’t quite as rosy in reality…

Time to Die by Caroline Mitchell

I’m a real scaredy-cat but I couldn’t resist this one because it’s published by Bookouture and all of their books are amazing. I’m finding this book near impossible to put down, the supernatural elements in it make the book that bit different to other books in the genre. If you’re planning on reading this (or any other of their thrillers) please check out my BookoutureThriller info at the end of this post!)

Blurb:

He Will Predict you life… and your death.

Don’t ever cross his palm with silver.
He will reveal your most shameful secrets.
He will predict your death.
He is hiding a secret.
He is hiding a monster.
And all his predictions come true.
Investigating a series of chilling murders, Detective Jennifer Knight finds herself tracking a mysterious tarot card reader known only as The Raven.
As the death toll rises, Jennifer and her team build a picture of a serial killer on the edge of sanity, driven by dark forces. But these are not random killings. And the method behind the madness could be the most terrifying thing of all …
Especially when it seems the death of one of their own is on the cards.
Time to Die is an absolutely gripping serial killer thriller with a breath-taking supernatural twist.

A Notable Woman by Simon Garfield (Due to be published 5th Nov)

This book is a long one so I’m going to be reading it for a while but it’s completely and utterly wonderful. I adore it and highly recommend it to everyone.

Blurb:

In April 1925, Jean Lucey Pratt began writing a journal. She continued to write until just a few days before her death in 1986, producing well over a million words in 45 exercise books over the course of her lifetime. For sixty years, no one had an inkling of her diaries’ existence, and they have remained unpublished until now.
Jean wrote about anything that amused, inspired or troubled her, laying bare every aspect of her life with aching honesty, infectious humour, indelicate gossip and heartrending hopefulness. She recorded her yearnings and her disappointments in love, from schoolgirl crushes to disastrous adult affairs. She documented the loss of a tennis match, her unpredictable driving, catty friends, devoted cats and difficult guests. With Jean we live through the tumult of the Second World War and the fears of a nation. We see Britain hurtling through a period of unbridled transformation, and we witness the shifting landscape for women in society.
As Jean’s words propel us back in time, A Notable Woman becomes a unique slice of living, breathing British history and a revealing private chronicle of life in the twentieth century.

Out of the Darkness by Katy Hogan

This book is brilliant! It’s one of those books that I want to keep reading but I also want to really take my time with it. I’ve decided to read it slowly so I can really take in the story. It’s an incredibly moving book, and I’d definitely recommend it. I’m hoping to review it next week and may have a giveaway too so keep an eye out for that!

Blurb:

DOES EVERYTHING IN LIFE HAPPEN PURELY BY CHANCE? OR ARE WE GUIDED TOWARDS PEOPLE WHO CAN HELP US IN OUR HOUR OF NEED?
Following the sudden death of her beloved mother, Jessica Gibson’s world falls apart. But after meeting a man who seems heaven-sent, she starts to feel she has something to live for again, and soon discovers that their connection holds far more significance than she could ever have imagined. And when Jessica strikes an unlikely bond with Alexandra Green, the two new friends are taken on an emotional journey into the world of the supernatural, where psychic mediums pass on messages from beyond the grave. What — or who — is causing the strange goings-on in Alex’s home? What secret is she keeping from Jessica? And who is the young woman who so badly needs their help? In a series of surprising twists and turns, the pieces of the puzzle finally fall into place and a mystery is unwittingly solved — with life-changing consequences for all involved.

How to Stuff Up Christmas by Rosie Blake (Due to be published 5th Nov)

Blurb:

Books I’ve bought this week:

Home is Burning: A Memoir by Dan Marshall

The Witches: Salem 1692 by Stacy Schiff

Bones in the Nest by Helen Cadbury

Muse by Jonathan Galassi

Sunday Dinners by Jon Rance

I was most excited to buy The Witches: Salem 1692 as I’ve heard so much about it but all of these books caught my eye over the course of the week and I couldn’t resist buying any of them. I hope to have time to read them soon.

Arcs I’ve received:

The Widow by Fiona Barton (paperback)

A Game for all the Family by Sophie Hannah (hardback)

The Heart of Winter by Emma Hannifin (paperback)

The Day of Second Chances by Julie Cohen (ebook)

In Real Life by Jessica Love (ebook)

Lost Girls by Angela Marsons (ebook)

This Raging Light by Estelle Laure (ebook)

I’m so excited about all of these ARCs. I think I was most excited when I was offered a copy of The Widow because I’ve heard so much about it and have been so badly wanting to get my hands on a copy. All of the other books have been books I’d added to my wishlist so I was super excited to get approved for them.

From 31st October – 6th November Bookouture are running a Bookouture Thriller week on twitter. To join in all you need to do is read one (or more!) of their thrillers and tweet about it using the hashtag #BookoutureThriller.

Review: Merry Mistletoe by Emma Davies

Posted on 31/10/2015 by Hayley at RatherTooFondofBooks

merry-mistletoe

I loved this novella, it was just the kind of gentle and heart-warming book that I want to be reading at this time of year.

Freya Sherborne runs her family mistletoe business from her childhood home, but this year is her first Christmas running it alone after the death of her beloved father. The debts are mounting up and Freya knows she’s going to have to sell up very soon.

The novella is set out as a countdown to Christmas, starting 29 days before. I loved how it was set so close to Christmas and had the build-up, it meant it really was a proper festive read and that is my favourite kind of Christmas book!

I was intrigued by Amos Fry all through this novella, he’s a great character though. He was like a cross between Mary Poppins and Father Christmas and I loved how he seemed to be magically nudging things in the right direction for Freya to find happiness again.

I loved the symbolism of the white feathers that kept appearing throughout the novella, especially the one that appeared near the robin. This novella had a lot of symbols running through it, even the mistletoe itself and it was added an extra layer to the Christmas novel that I really appreciated. Christmas is forever changed when you lose a loved one but the symbols that are around can really offer comfort. I love how Freya and her father had bought a new tree ornament every year, and that Freya decided to continue with that after losing him. The tree ornament that she was helped to find for this year was so perfect, I wanted it to be from a real shop so that I could buy one!

This is the first book I’ve read by Emma Davies but it won’t be the last, it was wonderful. I’ve already bought Letting in Light and have it waiting for me on my TBR!

I rate this novella 9 out of 10.

I received this book from Lawsome Books via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Merry Mistletoe is out now and available from Amazon.

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It’s weekly wrap up time again!

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The Jazz Files by Fiona Veitch Smith

(Out now! My review will be up on Monday 23rd November as part of the blog tour)

I’m thoroughly enjoying reading this novel, I haven’t read anything like it for such a long time and it feels like a real treat.

Follow Me by Angela Clarke

(Due to be published 3rd December)

The Silent Dead by Claire McGowan

(Due to be published on 19th November)

Bossypants by Tina Fey

(Out now!)

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The Secret by the Lake by Louise Douglas

(Due to be published on 19th November. My review will be up on 26th November as part of the blog tour)

Sugar and Snails by Anna Goodwin

(Out now!)

The Mince Pie Mix-Up by Jennifer Joyce

(Out now!)

The Drowning Lesson by Jane Shemilt

(Out now!)

How To Get Ahead in Television by Sophie Cousens

(Out now!)

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