Christmas Giveaway #2 - Married by Christmas by Scarlett Bailey

Following on from my review of Married by Christmas which you can find here, Hannah at Ebury Publishing has very kindly offered a giveaway copy of the Christmas title for one lucky reader of Book - Love - Bug.

To enter, please follow the rafflecopter instructions below.  One entry per person, UK only, competition closes at midnight on 6 December.  Get your entries in quick! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Christmas Giveaway #1 - Winter Wonderland by Belinda Jones

Last year, I loved spending the lead up to Christmas getting into the festive spirit by reading as many Christmas-themed books as possible, and concluding with a mega giveaway to thank all my lovely followers.  

This year, I want to start getting festive as all the Christmas adverts are beginning to play, yet I am still sat here wondering what happened to my summer.  It won't be as spectacular as last year, I'm not that organised this time round but there will be a couple of Christmas themed-prizes.

The first of which is Winter Wonderland by Belinda Jones.  The cover reminds me of slow globes and Tiffany's and I can't wait to get stuck in to it.  The publishers have kindly offered one competition copy to my blog readers.  To enter - please follow the rafflecopter instructions below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review of "Married by Christmas by Scarlett Bailey"

** I received a free copy of this book in return for an honest opinion.  Thank you to Hannah Robinson at Ebury Publishing @Hannah_Robbo for the copy, and Scarlett Bailey @ScarlettBailey for doing such a fabulous job **

* What it's about *

All she wants is the perfect Christmas Eve wedding....

It's been on Anna's wish-list since she was a little girl, dreaming of a far happier family life than she'd ever experienced.

But now - only two weeks before her big day - her perfect husband-to-be drops a bombshell...

Only nothing's going to stop Anna's plans - not even the pesky inconvenience of discovering her groom already has a wife!

* What I thought * 

Having read, and adored A Night Before Christmas last year as part of my December month of packing in as many Christmas books as possible, and then reading Scarlett Bailey's advent calendar story, Santa Maybe, I was delighted when a copy of Married by Christmas arrived one morning.

I have been putting off reading it until an acceptable time which I felt was close enough to Christmas.  Now that the shops have fully embraced the Christmas spirit, the Christmas adverts are out (I have heard rumours that the Coca Cola advert has been aired, which means it must be nearly Christmas) and I have heard my first Christmas tune on the radio, I decided it was time to settle down in front of the fire and read this book which I had very high expectations for.

I was not disappointed in the slightest, and the only niggling worry I have is wondering how long I have to wait for the next Scarlett Bailey book.  

Married by Christmas is as magically festive as 'A Night Before Christmas' but in a completely unique way.  This book involves a last minute dash to one of the most Christmassy places in the world (no, not Lapland) and boy is it magical.  Scarlett has the knack of making me want to climb into the book and live out the life of Anna, albeit a fairly complicated life.  Scarlett Bailey's descriptions are moving and funny in the right doses, and her characters are well-developed and the sort of people you would enjoy in your life.

Anna is a very deep character - and the underlying moral to the story is a meaningful and important one; your past doesn't have to taint your future, your genetics will not overcome the goodness inside of you.  Live your life for you and follow your dreams.  

This might not be the most unpredictable book in the world, and it might not be the most festive-filled book out there this year, but it'll leave you feeling warm and fuzzy inside.  You know there is a twist coming, you know what you want the twist to be, and you'll keep turning the pages until you find out whether you get your Christmas wish.....!

Please Scarlett, don't make me wait another year for more!

Review of "She's Never Coming Back" by Hans Koppel

** I received a free copy of this book from the publishers (Sphere) in return for an honest review.  You can follow them on twitter @SphereBooks **

I have found this book review harder to write than normal.  There is so much I'd like to be able to say, yet by saying it, I'll make the whole prospect of you going out and buying it redundant.  So rather than top this review with the dreaded "spoilers" word, I'm just not going to say it!

What I will say is there are a couple of major points about this book that make it different to other thrillers/crime novels, for me at least.  These are the things I can't tell you....i.e. the ending! Therefore you’re just going to have to take my word for it, this book is different.  I found it to be exceptionally well wrapped up, and the conclusion isn’t what you expect it to be. 

Whilst I wouldn’t agree that is “the most terrifying crime novel I have ever read” (as broadcast on its front cover), I would say it had the right balance of suspense and storyline to hold my attention for its entirety.

I found the extracts from a lecture given about the relationship between the victim and perpetrator, which appear at the beginning of some chapters, added to the whole sense of the book. 

I should note there is a fair amount of sexual violence in this book – I certainly wouldn’t say it is a book the whole family will love, but if you’re into your crime novels and thrillers – this one, in my opinion, is worth a look.

Review of 'Putting Alice back together' by Carol Marinelli

Thanks, once again, to Lucy from Midas PR (You can follow them on twitter @midaspr) for getting me involved in the blog tour for Putting Alice Back Together.  Once again another fantastic debut novel....!

** What it’s about **

There’s only so much sex, valium and red wine you can take to paper over the cracks…

Alice is the friend you wish you had.  The girl who makes a party more fun, drinks wine out of a mug and makes you laugh while you’re crying over an ex.  Alice is totally happy, everything is amazing and there is nothing at all to worry about…except, well:

Her job was really great – 10 years ago.

She is in love with her best friend, but he’s gay.

Her credit card bills are under her bed unopened…

But maybe the biggest problem for Alice is that she has a secret.

A secret so big she can’t tell anyone.  How do you keep a secret like that when everything is starting to fall apart?

And once it’s out there, how do you ever begin to put yourself back together again?

** What I thought **

Putting Alice Back Together is more a book about Alice falling apart.  It’s a harrowing story of ‘Little Alice’ intermingled with present day Alice; the narrative flicks back and forth as it allows the reader to discover piece by piece how Alice has come to be the woman she is today.  And let’s face it, Alice is a mess…

Alice has to hit rock bottom in order to start putting herself back together.  It isn’t just the secret from her childhood causing her to plummet; she’s also in love with her gay best friend, in a huge amount of debt and stuck in a job which is far from her ideal.

I very much enjoyed this book, discovering Alice as a person (flaws and all).  We’ve all made mistakes (perhaps not all of us on the scale of Alice), but this book is really about self-discovery, coming to terms with the person you are and learning to love yourself again, before allowing someone else to do the same.

This book is packed with friendship (some good friends and some not so good friends) and honest family relationships.  Alice was warm and witty, despite everything, and I love how she’d type out emails being frank but hit delete and retype an edited version before sending.  We’ve definitely all done that….!

There is also just the right amount of romance in this book; not too much that it becomes romantic chick lit but just enough to be real and warming against the heart-breaking background.

All in all, I very much enjoyed Carol Marinelli’s Putting Alice back together and certainly will be keeping an eye out for her future books!

  

About Carol Marinelli

Carol Marinelli grew up in London, but after training to be a nurse, went on holiday to Melbourne and never left.  She has lived in Australia for ten years and has travelled extensively around the country. She has embraced Australian life to the full and now lives with her family in Melbourne. Carol is a Nurse by day and an author by night, when she’s not working or writing, Carol loves to travel, with her favourite destination being New York. She hates airports and goodbyes, and is happiest at her computer lost in her imagination and making up stories.

You can read more about Carol at her website.

Taking a break.....!

I just wanted to send a quick message out to all my followers, and my lovely blogging friends, to say that I'm going to be taking a break from everything for a while.  I start a new job on Monday, after being a perpetual postgraduate student, so life is going to be a bit upside down for a while whilst I adjust to full time work (it's certainly about time at my age...!!)


I will try, as far as is possible, to keep on top of all book reviews, but they make take longer than previously, so I'm hoping you'll all be patient with me.  I'll also try to keep up with your reviews as much as I can but please forgive my silence, lack of comments and tweets for the foreseeable future.


Thank you all for the support of the past months and I look forward to being back on top of everything.  


Love to all xxx

Review of 'Run Rabbit Run' by Kate Johnson

** What it’s about **

Sophie’s in trouble. Must be Tuesday

Sophie Green’s an ex-spy, or trying to be. You wouldn’t believe the trouble she’s in. An MI5 officer has been shot with her gun, her fingerprints all over his office. And no, she didn’t kill him.

But she has gone on the run.

Now Sophie’s desperately seeking whoever’s trying to frame and kill her. She’s being forced to work with the least trustworthy man in Europe, MI5 is following her every move, and she’s had to leave the tall, blond, god of a man she loves behind.

Luke Sharpe works for MI6. Or did, until his girlfriend became a murder suspect.

Doing nothing wasn’t an option, so he started investigating. Who cares if it means jeopardising his career? Sophie’s everything he used to say he never wanted. Young, irresponsible, bright and mad. Now she’s just everything – and she has to live.

She will live, won’t she?

Thank you to Choc Lit UK for the advance copy in return for an honest review (and the accompanying Lindt bunny!)

** What I thought **

Run Rabbit Run is the latest instalment in the Sophie Green Mysteries written by Kate Johnson.  This book is published by the lovely publishers that are Choc Lit UK; an independent brand-led publisher, specialising in fiction with romantic content, where the writing clearly develops the hero’s point of view.  Oh, and have I mentioned before that Choc Lit heroes are always really realllly yummy!

In Run Rabbit Run, we get two delicious heroes (Luke and Jack) and one slightly crazy (quite possibly the understatement of the century) heroine.  I hadn’t read any of Kate Johnson’s previous Sophie Green books and was reassured by Choc Lit that this wouldn’t be a problem, and it certainly wasn’t.  I have to admit, I found her really quite annoying to begin with – she’s an absolute nightmare, a train crash waiting to happen!  But she grew on me, and I adored Luke (and Jack gets pretty scrummy too)!  The storyline soon gripped me and took over any of those early irritations.

The book follows Sophie on the run from a crime she didn’t commit.  Challenging at the best of times, but when you’re on the run from MI5 and MI6 and then the CIA get involved, it becomes an absolute rollercoaster of a ride.  And that is what you get with this book, from start to finish.  It’s packed full of action as well as romance – and sometimes you’ll find yourself holding your breath (for both the action and romantic parts!!).

A fabulous rollercoaster of a read for those who love chick lit with a razor sharp edge.

There are plenty of ways to find out more about Kate Johnson.  She has a blog, Days of the Insane and a website.  Kate also tweets  @K8johnsonauthor and has a facebook page.

Run Rabbit Run is out on Kindle NOW and will be out in paperback on 7th April (Easter Saturday!!).

Review of 'Recipe for Love' by Katie Fforde

** What it’s about **

Take one aspiring cook, one judge and a spoonful of romance…

When Zoe Harper wins a coveted place in a televised cookery competition, she’s thrilled.  It’s a chance to cook her way to fame and fortune and the little delicatessen she’s set her heart on.

The first task has hardly begun when she finds herself with rather too much on her plate.

Not only has she got to contend with the fiercely competitive and downright devious Cher, but she’s fast developing an inconvenient crush on one of the judges – the truly delicious Gideon Irving.

All too soon there’s more than canapés, cupcakes and cordon bleu at stake.

Will Zoe win the competition or is Gideon one temptation too far? And is Zoe really prepared to risk it all for love?

** What I thought **

Katie Fforde has distinctively simple, yet beautiful, book covers and Recipe for Love is no exception. 

I loved the characters in this book, except Cher (I wanted to pull her hair and push her face first into the mud) and Rupert’s parents are hilariously awful!  I also loved the concept of this – it was like a cross between Masterchef and The Great British Bake Off.  If you hate cooking, don’t let this put you off – the book doesn’t require you to be a cooking-lover.  There are certainly some descriptions that will make anybody’s stomach rumble!

The story is wonderfully paced and easily devoured. Katie Fforde has created a warm and wonderful book that will keep you turning the pages until suddenly you find yourself at the end with a smile on your face and wanting more.  This book is delicious romantic chick lit at its best.

** About Katie Fforde **

Katie was born and brought up in London but has lived in Gloucestershire with her family for the last thirty years.  Her first novel, Living Dangerously, went on to be chosen as part of the WHSmith Fresh Talent promotion.  There have been over seventeen novels since, as well as some grandchildren.  Her hobbies, when she has time for them, are singing in a choir and flamenco dancing.  Katie Fforde is President of the Romantic Novelist’s Association.

To find out more about Katie Fforde, visit her website at www.katiefforde.com and follow her on Twitter @KatieFforde

Review of 'The Legacy of Eden' by Nelle Davy

Thank you to Lucy from Midas PR for getting  Book - Love - Bug involved in this blog tour.

** What it’s about **

If only I had never opened that letter... and let the devil in

 Meredith Hathaway has spent the last seventeen years pretending to forget. Until she gets a letter and her world is shattered in an instant. She must finally confront the rise and fall of the Hathaway dynasty... and her own part in their devastating history.

1946 Iowa. One woman is determined to change her fate. With unwavering ambition Lavinia Hathaway will stop at nothing to ensure that her family succeeds at all costs.

Now Lavinia’s legacy, Aurelia, the once magnificent family home, lies empty, a husk of its former self, a gaping wound of the Hathaways. Unable to resist the lure of buried secrets and bitter memories, Meredith must now face the truth or be destroyed by it.

The door is open... dare she walk into the past?

 ** What I thought **

When I first got my hands on this book, I knew it was going to be something special.  The cover has a luxurious feel; soft and full of depth.  I wasn’t disappointed.

The book opens with a prologue which had me hooked:

“I WAS CALLING FOR HER.

I pointed the flashlight into the darkness, punctuating the purple haze of the evening with circles of white.  The air was full of the smell of azaleas and the sound of crickets, and I began to think of how much I would miss my home.  For a moment, I was truly scared of leaving the farm, and I was stricken with both the fear of the unknown, and my desire for it.  I gave up a shudder.

And then I heard it.

The sharp snap of twigs being twisted into the earth.  I swung around and moved off the path, down to the rose garden.  I heard them before I saw them.  His voice was low, half in a whisper, but in the stillness of the night, it carried. 

“Say it,” he urged, and then more forcefully repeated, “Say it!”

And then another noise.  At first, I didn’t even know it was her.  It was a sound I had never heard from her before.

I have relived that night so many times.  Once, I had dared to believe that I was different from my family, that I was the one that did not fit.  But as my grandmother Lavinia, the catalyst for my family’s mottled history, once said, “Blood will out.”

Perhaps you would have made a different choice that night.  If so, your heart would not be heavy with such deep regret.  But knowing who I am, who my family was, how could anyone have expected anything else?”

Now if you’re anything like me, you’ll be hooked already and on your way to amazon to order yourself a copy. But before you go, let me tell you a little bit more....

Chapter 1 is an opening chapter from Meredith, set in the present day, which lays the foundations for the whole backstory.  Meredith narrates.  The rest of the book is divided into sections focusing on other main family members; (Meredith’s grandmother, Lavinia, Meredith’s aunt, Julia and Meredith’s sister, Ava).  Meredith continues to narrate, and these sections of the book flit from the past to the present as the story unravels.

This book is like a mass of tangled ropes; you only need one of those ropes, but you have to ease yourself around the others and slowly unravel and untangle them until everything becomes clear.  This creates a gripping book, which I found incredibly difficult to put down.  For me, the storyline didn’t lag at any point and it held my interest from the first sentence to the last.

Nelle Davy creates a complex cast in The Legacy of Eden, and at times I felt like there should be a family tree lurking at the front of the book to avoid any possible confusion.  The narrator sometimes refers to, for example, “her uncle” whereas other times she will refer to them by name; to start with I found myself pausing to think and confirm “now which one is she talking about?” However, it didn’t take long for the family tree to be engrained in my memory, as Nelle Davy creates deep and remarkable characters.  I think it should be noted though that if you find it difficult to remember characters and their links to each other, you may get a little lost and confused at times – but don’t let that put you off, if anything, just create your only family tree as you go along!

The setting to the story is Aurelia, the family home and the family business.  The place itself takes on a life of its own; it’s like a supernatural force that will ultimately destroy everything.  The detail that Nelle Davy incorporates is exceptional and conjures up some wonderful imagery for the reader.

I did think that the final “Hathaway secret” to be exposed would be more dramatic than it was, but having taken time to consider it, this isn’t disappointing.  The final secret to come out is the one which is alluded to in the prologue, and there are plenty of shocking antics in between that first page and the last.  The final secret is simply the final nail in the coffin, which finally tips the balance; I don’t think the author ever intended it to be incredibly unpredictable and a shock to the reader (there are a few hints along the way).  This book isn’t necessarily about making amends, it’s about the Hathaway family and their history, not about their future.  

Nelle Davy has a very powerful and rich writing style, which is seriously impressive for a 27 year old.  The Legacy of Eden is an incredible debut from an extremely talented young author; Nelle Davy is one to watch!

Question and Answer with Nelle Davy

Thank you to Nelle for taking the time to answer some questions for Book - Love - Bug and its readers:

Book - Love - Bug: What inspired you to become a writer and where did the inspiration for The Legacy of Eden come from?

Nelle Davy: I escaped in stories. I found books to be life rafts when I was a child that I could use to sail away from my home life but I couldn’t always afford books and once, exasperated, my mother told me to write a story myself in order to stop me asking her, so I did. And I didn’t ever stop. Years later on a train ride to University mid term, I was reading I, Claudius and I thought it was such an amazing story about a diseased and ultimately corrupt dynasty that out of supposedly good intentions brought down their own family and all its glory. I kept wondering what it would be like to transpose it to a modern setting and this great estate came into my mind… a beautiful farmland that they would live on and love and die for but which would destroy them. I couldn’t stop thinking about it and I sort of played around with it a bit for a couple of years and then finally when I left University and got a job and felt ready, I began writing it. And just like when I was a child, I didn’t stop.

Book - Love - Bug: Having read The Legacy of Eden, I was surprised to discover you were born in the UK - what made you set this book in Iowa and did it take a lot of research to come up with the detail?

Nelle Davy: It had to be somewhere which had a real connection with the land and somewhere, where a place like Aurelia could exist – which naturally, with its history and scope, was America. I never felt that while writing, I should feel constricted by my nationality and background. If an actress can play any part from any century, why shouldn’t a writer feel the same way? That is why it’s fiction. But it did require a lot of research, predominantly to ensure that while I may not have been American, the book was not an English person’s idea of America, but indistinguishable from American novels. That was my ultimate goal.

Book - Love - Bug: Where did the title The Legacy of Eden come from and how does it fit with the story?

Nelle Davy: It wasn’t the original title. And sadly I did not come up with it, my amazing editor did at the time. They didn’t like my title and I didn’t like their brainstorms and it all got a bit too much like a stalemate. She emailed me in the middle of the night and suggested this and I thought at first, I didn’t hate it and I could understand it’s link to the story. The notion of something aspirational like paradise and how these people fought to create it, got really close, but ultimately failed and what it was like living with that history. It was a title that grew on me over time.

Book - Love - Bug: Can you tell us a little bit about your next book?

Nelle Davy: It is set in Louisiana during the civil rights movement in 1963 and the heightened tensions of race relations. It is so different. My first novel in terms of scope is so small but this is so vast and much more historically weighted.

Book - Love - Bug: Are you a big reader yourself? What are you reading at the moment?

Nelle Davy: Huge! I have 15 books on my bedside table waiting to be read and I love to re-read novels too. Right now I have Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping in my bag. She is a beautiful writer.

Review of 'Rainshadow Road' by Lisa Kleypas

Thanks to Piatkus for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

** What it’s about **

Lucy Marinn is a glass artist living in beautiful, inspiring Friday Harbour, Washington. Creatively fulfilled and engaged to be married, she is content with her life, until she is stunned by the worst kind of betrayal: her fiancé Kevin announces he's leaving Lucy to be with her younger sister.

Facing the disapproval of Lucy's parents, Kevin asks his friend Sam Nolan, one of the owners of the Rainshadow vineyard, to 'romance' Lucy and help her get over her anger. But when Sam and Lucy begin to fall in love, things become complicated, especially when Kevin starts to have second thoughts. And when Lucy discovers that the new relationship in her life began under false pretences, her world is shattered, and she is forced to question everything.

** What I thought **

Rainshadow Road has one of those gorgeous covers which invites you in, and makes you want to curl up in front of a fire (or lounge on a sunbed in your garden) before you start reading.  I definitely judged this book by its cover and I was right – it’s as gorgeous inside as it is out!

Lisa Kleypas brings out the characters emotions within you with ease and you swiftly take a dislike to certain characters whilst instantly warming to others.  I loved the unique occupation of Lucy – this allowed Lisa Kleypas to provide the reader with some rather vivid imagery.  The imagery from the vineyard is also fantastic and it made me want to go and immerse myself in Friday Harbour.

There are also some truly heart-warming moments to this book, centred on Holly, which had me in tears.  The romance in this is also gorgeously written – the struggle and battling of feelings that, let’s face it, are always going to win.  Sam is just gorgeous, I want him and his body to carry me around the house in my hour of need.  He’s geeky, but in the most sexy way possible!

My *only* complaint about this book would be that the synopsis isn’t exactly accurate.  The synopsis states that Kevin is Lucy’s fiancé – yet in the book she only ever refers to him as her boyfriend – there is no mention of them being engaged at any point.  I also thought the bit about Kevin trying to set Lucy up with Sam was a bit misleading.

Rainshadow Road is the first in Lisa Kleypas’s new Friday Harbour trilogy.  I, for one, cannot wait for more!  You can follow Lisa on twitter @LisaKleypas and visit her website www.lisakleypas.com for more information on Lisa and her books.