The Proposal

Purchase Via Amazon
Synopsis
Nadine Stefano is a high flying career woman. She has no time for relationships and having been recently promoted at work, she wants to make a good impression with her boss. At her sister's hen party Nadine meets Ethan who is one of the performers. She finds herself attracted to him and they end up talking that first night.
A few weeks later, the company Nadine works for are holding their annual convention at a luxury hotel away from home. Not having a date to take with her, and wanting to present the image of a settled and happy woman in a relationship, Nadine resorts to calling Ethan at the escort agency and asking him along. Theirs is a strong attraction, although there are various company politics and characters that stand in their way.
Will their meeting lead to love, despite seemingly different career choices, or will Nadine dump Ethan in order to pursue her career goals?

Dating Games

Purchase Via Amazon

Synopsis
Scarlett Harper’s glamorous visions of life as a personal assistant on an investment bank’s trade floor, aren’t quite working out the way she’d hoped. Where were the marriage proposals from rich hedge-fund bankers, and tickets to the front row at London’s Fashion Week? 

Newly-single and armed only with advice from well-meaning friends, Scarlett is thrust into the unfamiliar Singles Scene as she attempts to navigate through a minefield of disastrous dates with men who aren’t all they seem, steamy liaisons on the picturesque Greek island of Santorini, and extravagant parties in opulent English country manors. 

Will she ever meet her Mr Right and more importantly, will she ever fit into those size ten jeans again?  Follow the ups and downs of the dating game with Scarlett and her best friends, as they encounter hostile ex-wives, militant gym instructors, and eccentric relatives, helped along the way by copious amounts of wine and large bars of chocolate.

Picture Perfect

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Synopsis
For Lauren Tate, a high-powered TV producer, sex, lies, and scandal make for a great movie-of-the-week, but when she becomes the target of a smear campaign, even the most salacious of Hollywood’s tales can’t compare to her real life drama. With her soon-to-be-ex-husband leading the effort to sully her reputation, and her former assistant threatening to snatch her hard-earned position at Timeless Television out of her hands, Lauren’s perfectly planned life quickly begins to unravel at the seams.

Clawing her way back to the top of the TV food chain is no easy task, especially in an industry where backstabbing is a sport and gossip is a fulltime business. But Lauren learns just how cutthroat showbiz can truly be when the hottest scandal in Tinsel Town turns deadly and the Hollywood hunk who’s stolen her heart is missing in action. Can she salvage her career, her reputation, and her love life? Or will Hollywood be the death of her?

Head Over Heels

Purchase Via Amazon
Synopsis
Thirty-something teacher and professional shopper Grace has a passion for shoes. In fact they were responsible for her meeting her partner, Mark, when she speared his foot with one of her dangerously sharp heels whilst running for a train.

Mark is the other passion in her life, or so she thinks.... When he suggests they try for a baby - but is reluctant to tie the knot on their very long-term engagement - the cracks in her champagne lifestyle start to appear. As Mark becomes ever more controlling, Grace begins to see her blond and sexy boss, Tom, in a different light. A conventionally one-man woman who doesn't 'do' affairs, she suddenly finds herself in the midst of the sort of tangled lifestyle she has only read about in the celeb pages. Throw in the added complications of an untimely pregnancy, a case of mistaken identity and some pretty zany friends and Grace's life is thrown into turmoil. Retail therapy and even the comfort of her vast shoe collection can't help her out of this dilemma.....

Dearest Rose

Purchase Via Amazon

Synopsis
'You are a remarkable woman and you deserve all the happiness, contentment and love in the world. I, for one, know that I have never met anyone quite like you.'When Rose Pritchard turns up on the doorstep of a Cumbrian B&B it is her last resort. She and her seven-year-old daughter Maddie have left everything behind. And they have come to the village of Millthwaite in search of the person who once offered Rose hope. Almost immediately Rose wonders if she’s made a terrible mistake – if she’s chasing a dream – but she knows in her heart that she cannot go back. She’s been given a second chance – at life, and love – but will she have the courage to take it?

Pride and Prejudice Turns 200

Wishing Pride and Prejudice a happy 200th Birthday.

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” 

“There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of merit or sense.”
― Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
Free on Kindle

  Synopsis
 Elizabeth Bennet is the perfect Austen heroine: intelligent, generous, sensible, incapable of jealousy or any other major sin. That makes her sound like an insufferable goody-goody, but the truth is she's a completely hip character who ,if provoked, is not above skewering her antagonist with a piece of her exceptionally sharp, yet always polite, 18th-century wit. The real point of the book though, the critical question which will keep you fixated throughout, is: will Elizabeth and Mr Darcy hook up? Read this genuine all-time classic and discover the answer while enjoying a story that has charmed generation after generation.

Romatic Books by Men

I love chicklit.  Many authors hate that term with a passion (Find out more) but I love it. I embrace it, there’s nothing with the title. What is wrong perhaps is people’s perception of these books. They are viewed as being too fluffy and girly. What's wrong with that I say. Books are Books. If it sounds good, I'm reading it.


I read chicklit more than any other genre I must confess though. Not because, as people have suggested I’m simple minded but because I love the simplicity of chicklits.  They don’t spend pages and pages describing landscapes and facial expressions.  They are usually unpretentious, easily accessible and damn right enjoyable. My favorite books have always been those types of books where by the end, I’m tears or busting with laughter. For example Anybody Out There by Marian Keyes left such an impact on me that even after 5 years I look back and can feel those emotions creeping up again.

What I'm struggling with perhaps is what to call those romantic books by men. Surely I Chicklit is too girly and Manlit just sound wrong. These books are essentially Chicklit for guys but chicklit doesn’t fit neatly. From Harry in This Thirty Something Man to Jamie in Love From Both Sides, these books have captured my heart. I’m currently reading The Woman who Made Men cry and it seems my obsession is about to grow to an unhealthy amount.



 So I've come up with a new name and that name shall be GUYLIT. Yes I realise it does sound a tad bit dodgy but so did chicklit when I first heard it so maybe, just maybe GUYLIT might catch on. Fingers Crossed. Each week I will featured whichever one I'm reading and will review it accordingly.

Reading List

1)My Favourite Wife
2)The Importance of Being a Bachelor
3)William's Progress
4)Love, Sex and Tesco's Finest Cava
5)The Woman Who Made Men Cry
6)Love From Both Sides
7)An Idiot in Love
8)Finding Yourself In Sevile
9)The Accidental Proposal

Life Without

Purchase Via Amazon

Synopsis
STEVEN GOODMAN has everything! 
He attends all the most glamorous functions and his multi-million pound Notting Hill flat is full of luxurious spaces, gizmo's and gadgets. 
However Steve's life is not as perfect as it seems. In his flat, behind a locked door, is everything that reminds him of SOPHIE. Almost one year on from the Valentine's day that ended their marriage, Steve still hasn't managed to get one word from the girl that he used to describe as his butterfly. 

In a desperate and immature bid to regain some happiness, Steve throws himself at a high risk venture. 
Going into business with JULIAN STROKE, a famous but highly strung artist, seems like the perfect solution to the missing excitement in his life. 
As the new venture takes a twist, throwing him back into Sophie's life, Steve finds his relationships, his sanity and his money pushed to the brink.

The House of Memories

Purchase or http://www.monicamcinerney.com/novels/ 

Nominated for a Romantic Novelists Award Category: Best Contemporary Romantic Novel

Synopsis
Following a tragic accident, Ella O'Hanlon flees to the other side of the world in an attempt to escape her grief, leaving behind the two people she blames for her loss: Aidan, the love of her life, and Jess, her spoilt half-sister. In London Ella is taken in by her beloved uncle Lucas, whose extraordinary house holds many wonderful memories for her. Along with other members of the very colourful Fox family, Lucas helps Ella to see that she is not the only one still hurting, and that forgiveness can be the greatest healer in a family and in a marriage. For anyone who has ever loved and lost, this is an exquisitely moving and life-affirming novel by the internationally bestselling author of Lola’s Secret.

Love, sex and Tesco's Finest Cave

Synopsis
 Film fanatic Rob Smith is thirty-eight, newly single and on the wrong side of two marriages.
Rob's looking to get back into dating but quickly discovers that in the ten years he's been married the rules of the game have changed. After a couple of disastrous blind dates, Rob strikes it lucky when he meets the supremely confident Jenny on URdate.com.
As Rob blunders his way through their early dates, he begins to discover there's a price to pay for the upturn in his sexual fortunes.
Rob has to deal with an anarchic house, three teenage boys, his own sexual inadequacies and the nagging feeling in the back of his mind that, just maybe, Jenny is not all that she seems.
If all that's not enough his best mate Steve's insatiable desire to be crowned 'Halton and District over 35s Five-a-side Champions' is adding to the pressure.
Will love, sex and Tesco's finest cava be enough to see him through?
Puchase Via Amazon 

Anybody Out There

Synopsis

Anna Walsh is officially a wreck. She's covered in bandages and she's lying in her parents' Good Front Room dreaming of leaving Dublin and getting back to New York.
To her friends.

To The Most Fabulous Job in the World.

And most of all, back to her husband, Aiden.
But her family have other ideas (not to mention the usual problems that beset the Walsh sisters). And Aiden, for some reason, seems unwilling to get in touch.
What happened to Anna to send her so far from all that she loves? And what happened to her marriage that her husband won't talk to her?

Romantic Novelists Awards

In celebration of those excellent authors that have been nominated for the Romantic Novel Awards (RoNA), I've decided to feature one nominated author every day. The Romantic Novelists awards celebrates romance in its glory from historical to contemporary to Young adult romance. Find out more on their website RNA. Here's the wonderful reading list. 

RoNA Rose Award

Fiona Harper, Always the Best Man, Harlequin Mills & Boon Riva

Sarah Mallory, Beneath the Major's Scars, Harlequin Historical

Heidi Rice, The Good, the Bad and the Wild, Harlequin Mills & Boon Riva

Carol Townend, Betrothed to the Barbarian, Harlequin Historical

Scarlet Wilson, West Wing to Maternity Wing, Harlequin Mills & Boon Medical

Scarlet Wilson, Her Christmas Eve Diamond, Harlequin Mills & Boon Medical

The Contemporary Romantic Novel 

Katie Fforde, Recipe for Love, Arrow

Veronica Henry, The Long Weekend, Orion

Mhairi McFarlane, You Had Me At Hello, Avon

Monica McInerny, The House of Memories, Pan Macmillan

Sue Moorcroft, Dream a Little Dream, Choc Lit

Polly Williams, The Angel at No. 33, Headline

The Epic Romantic Novel 

Rowan Coleman, Dearest Rose, Arrow

Dilly Court, The Lady's Maid, Arrow

Madeline Miller, The Song of Achilles, Bloomsbury

Kate Morton, The Secret Keeper, Pan Macmillan

Gill Paul, Women and Children First, Avon Liz Trenow, The Last Telegram, Avon

The Historical Romantic Novel 
Charlotte Betts, The Apothecary's Daughter, Piatkus (Little Brown)
Christina Courtenay, The Silent Touch of Shadows, Choc Lit
Kate Furnivall, The White Pearl, Sphere (Little Brown)
Pamela Hartshorne , Time's Echo, Pan Macmillan
Susanna Kearsley, The Rose Garden, Allison & Busby
Mary Nichols, The Kirilov Star, Allison & Busby

The Romantic Comedy Novel 
Jenny Colgan, Welcome to Rosie Hopkin's Sweetshop of Dreams, Sphere (Little Brown)
Victoria Connelly, The Runaway Actress, Avon
Jane Costello, All the Single Ladies, Simon & Schuster UK
Nicola Doherty, The Out of Office Girl, Headline
Belinda Jones, Winter Wonderland, Hodder & Stoughton
Jane Wenham-Jones, Prime Time, Accent Press Ltd.
The Young Adult Romantic Novel 
Jo Cotterill, Sweet Hearts: Model Behaviour, Red Fox (RHCP)


The Young Adult Romantic Novel 
Jo Cotterill, Sweet Hearts: Model Behaviour, Red Fox (RHCP)
Laura Jarratt, Skin Deep, Electric Monkey/Egmont
Marie-Louise Jensen, The Girl in the Mask, OUP
Victoria Lamb, Witchstruck, Corgi (RHCP)
Sarra Manning, Adorkable, Atom (Little Brown)
Susan Waggoner, Neptune's Tears, Piccadilly Press

The Greatest Love Story of All Time

Purchase Via Amazon or  http://lucy-robinson.co.uk/
Synopsis

It's Fran's thirtieth birthday and things are good . . .
She's bluffed her way into a Very Posh Job and her outlandishly handsome and talented boyfriend Michael is escorting her to the Ritz with a bulge the shape of a ring box in his pocket. But something has gone wrong. Very wrong. By the end of the evening Fran is howling in bed with a bottle of cheap brandy and one of Michael's old socks. In her quest to figure out why her life has suddenly gone down the pan, Fran comes up with a failsafe plan: live like a badger, stalk a stranger called Nellie and cancel her beloved Gin Thursdays in favour of drinking gin every night. But then Fran's friends force a very different plan on her and it's nowhere near as fun.   How could eight dates possibly make her feel better? But eventually she agrees. And so begins the greatest love story of all time . . .

Confusing Tuesday's Child

Tuesday’s Child is full of Grace. I should have been born on a Tuesday. I was born on a Sunday. Sunday's child is bonny and blythe, and good and gay. People expect too much from Sunday's child.  Tuesday's child can survive on grace alone.  And simply because I love Tuesdays, I should have been born on a Tuesday. Today, maybe because of the snow, I've had more confusing moments than Bridget Jones during a NASA operation. Firstly woke up thinking my ear was falling off, my mum illustrated clearly that this wasn't the case (Thank God), then on my way to work, I suddenly realised I couldn't feel my nose, it was so cold. It was 9am.  


My brain hadn't switched on longer enough to realise I've never actually felt my nose unless I physically touch it that is. It was all so confusing this morning but at least nothing significant happened after those life altering moments. I didn't have to cure cancer not did I save world anger; that can wait until Wednesday morning.

 On a happier note however, the books I'm currently reading this week are truly excellent. I've decided to read 3 books at the same time (God help me). These are Yours Truly, The woman Who Made Men Cry and Tallulah's shopping trolley. So far so good.  Also I've come up with a brilliant term for romantic books by men: GUYLIT. Brilliant right? Happy Tuesday Everyone. 

Tuesday's Kindle Freebie

Purchase Via Amazon
Synopsis
Dave Currick was everything Matty Brennan wanted for as along as she could remember. Right up until he broke her heart six years ago. Now that she's returned to Wyoming for good, what she wants more than anything is to save her family's ranch. Even if that means swallowing her pride and asking Dave to marry her.

Matty's up to something - Dave knows that much. Just as he knows that Matty needs help, so of course he'll provide it, just as he has all her life. Doing what's best for Matty is second nature. Even when it comes to marrying her in name only. Although he can't resist one hot-blooded kiss after the I-dos.

Maybe - just maybe - his Matty will become more to him than Almost a Bride.

The Happy Home for Broken Hearts

Synopsis

Ellie Woods spends her days immersed in the escapist pages of the romantic novels she lovingly edits. But her reality is somewhat less rose-tinted. Once upon a time, Ellie had her 'happily ever after' moment when she married her beloved Nick, but fifteen years later her husband's tragic death leaves her alone with their soon-to-become-a-teenager son, faced with a mountain of debt, and on the verge of losing the family home.On the brink of bankruptcy, Ellie finally succumbs to her sister's well-meant bullying and decides to rent out some rooms. 

And all too soon the indomitable Allegra with her love for all things lavender, Sabine on secondment from Berlin and estranged from her two-timing husband, and unreconstructed lads' mag aficionado Matt enter her ordered but fragile existence - each with their own messy life in tow. And Ellie finds herself forced to step out of the pages of the romantic novels she hides behind, and learn to live - and love - again. Maybe a new chapter is about to begin for them all...

Purchase Via Amazon

Review: A Negotiated Marriage

Synopsis
Content in a mutually beneficial arrangement, Molly isn't going to fall for Luke the way she fell for an old lover, only to be crushed in the end. She vows to stay strong, no matter how much intimacy develops between them in bed. When her old lover returns, finally wanting a real relationship, Molly has the chance to give her heart to a man who will accept it.

Quick Review

This is an easy read, detailed and sensual. I started reading it to pass time but within 5 minutes I was addicted. I finished this book in less than 3 hours, a record for me. Noelle Adams writes with such ease, its impossible to stop and start with this book. Once you start, you just have to finish. I loved Molly and Luke's relationship, it had depth and a few sexy moments. I loved it so much, I just wish she had a sequel. I'm definitely picking up more of Noelle Adam's books. She's definitely my new author crush. 

Review: This Thirtysomething Life

Purchase via Amazon

Synopsis
Being a thirtysomething man isn't easy (especially when you still yearn to be a twentysomething man). Meet Harry Spencer. History teacher, lover of snack food and terrified of growing up. However, when his wife Emily drops the P-Bomb, Harry is suddenly thrust into the role of expectant father.

When he's tempted by the greener grass of an ex-girlfriend past, Harry has to make the most important decision of his life. Does he have what it takes to become a man, or will he succumb to the lure of adolescent fantasy?

Review

Right, This 30 something Life. I enjoyed it.  There were many laugh out loud moments for example when Harry damages his back during coitus.   I found myself laughing so hard, I couldn't breathe.  This 30 something Life is very reminiscent of Jamie from Love from both side by Nick Spalding.  But unlike Jamie, Harry can come across as unlikable  He lacks depths at times, his reasons for cheating on his nagging wife are flimsy and I thought he was looking for an excuse to stray and his wife's pregnancy gave him the perfect excuse.

Apart from Brian, I found all the other characters to be extremely aggravating  Harry is the worst husband, Emily is even worse as a wife. These two together - a disaster waiting to happen. Emma is very very angry. She's angry at everything. I'm sure pregnant women aren't this angry all the time.  There's also a sense of unhappiness about these two, they to be miserable half of time. I found myself asking why they were still together. The characters are very stereotypical and sometimes very offensive but overall it was a funny read and despite the little annoyances  I'm glad I picked it up.

Would I recommend this book? 100%  Any book that aggravated and captivated me this much deserves a read.

Cupcakes at Carrington's

Synopsis

Where life is sweeter...
Georgie Hart had it all – as a top personal shopper in London, the heady world of Mulberry launch parties and Louis Vuitton goody bags meant she was living the dream. But all that extravagance took its toll on her bank balance and it was time to stop drinking champagne on beer money.
Now Georgie runs the luxury bag concession at Carrington’s Department store in the pretty seaside town of Mulberry Bay and her lavish spending is confined to a red velvet cupcake with butter cream icing in Carrington’s cafe.
But her plans for a quiet life are thwarted when Carrington’s goes into a recession-busting makeover and soon, with the arrival of Maxine, wielding the axe in her immaculately-manicured hands, Georgie is fighting not only for her job, but also for the attentions of her dishy boss, James. And when newcomer Tom arrives, who may or may not be the best thing since sliced bread, Georgie must decide where her loyalties really lie...

Purchase Via Amazon or visit http://www.alexandrabrown.co.uk/

In Memory of Nora Ephron

 

Nora Ephron (May 19, 1941 – June 26, 2012) was a true inspiration. Nora Ephron was an Academy Award-winning screenwriter and film director of When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail and Bewitched. She was also a bestselling novelist (Heartburn, made into a film starring Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep), journalist and essayist (Crazy Salad) (Sourced from Amazon)

Review: The Earl's inconvinient Wife

Synopsis

Nathaniel Buford, Earl of Roderick, doesn't want a wife, but his brother died, passing on the title of earl to him. Now he is bound by duty to get an heir. Unfortunately, to get the heir, he must find a wife. As luck would have it, he gets caught in a scandalous situation not of his doing, and the next thing he knows, he's married...and to a lady whose family is reported to desire money above all else.

Miss Claire Lowell wanted to get married. But she never intended to marry a gentleman who felt trapped into it, and she certainly never thought her family would have a hand in the scandal that forced Lord Roderick's hand in marriage. Can love find a way to thrive under such conditions or will her father's eagerness to see her married off to an earl condemn her to a loveless marriage?

Review

I should start off by saying I got this as freebie a few weeks after many, many reviewers gushed about its brilliance. After some reflection i can only say it's perhaps the worst Regency I've ever read.  The writing is incredibly dully and migraine inducing. I was more interested in sub-characters than the main characters for example Perry was charming, funny and I will gladly read his story. Nathaniel and Claire made me want to throw my kindle at my television screen. At times nothing happened. The author would waffle on and on about nothing. It was more than frustrating.

The best thing about this book perhaps was that it was free. It didn't pay any money for it so I can’t complain too much. But if I had paid for this book I would've been very disappointed. For some light reading I took me a week to finish this book, it shouldn't have taken more than a day to finish. I did enjoy finishing it though. 

Monday Hiccups Yeah or Nay?

The award season is upon us. God help us all. This morning I woke up with an influx of Golden Globe pictures and stories about what a wonderful night it was.  I must admit I do like my celebrity news but this morning I felt a little sick with over indulgence. Who wore what best became the main focus of these fashion obsessed maniacs.  The celebrities I used to love, I now want to throttle (Anne Hathaway). 

 If I have to read about her brilliance one more time, I think I might die a slow painful death. I never realised how obsessed we are with celebrities. Until now, I never realised how boring and meaningless these individuals are. 

In other news it's snowing. Yeah or Nay? I don’t mind snow, comes once a year and lasts for a few days. Nothing to complain about. Unless you’re English of course then snow becomes the black plague. My twitter is plagued with “oh it’s snowing outside”, “I can’t function no more” sort of comments. “Look it’s snowing” a workmate points out. I know it’s snowing lovely I have windows and eyes for that matter. What’s wrong with us Brits and snow? 

On a happier note, I did start reading Kirsty Greenwood's Yours Truly and it made my day. Full review coming soon.

Author Alert! Lily Zante

Lily Zante
 Via Amazon
http://www.lilyzante.com/ 

Penelope by Rebecca Harrington

BUY NOW

Synopsis

Armed only with her Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights poster and party conversation modelled on the repartee of Noel Coward, Penelope is bewildered by the apparent lack of kindred spirits on campus. And her roommates are baffling: Emma is busy signing up for insanely difficult courses and obsessing about something called a 'finals club'; and the rarely glimpsed Lan has painted her room black and shut the door. Gustav, a dashing, rumpled-linen-suit-wearing upperclassman of uncertain European origins who has caught Penelope's eye, never seems to be in the freshman dining hall, so it seems unlikely she will ever find out if he matches up to her hero, Hercule Poirot.

Penelope follows our heroine's progress through her first year among America's elite, as she navigates the mysteries of life, love, inappropriate tutors, marionette operation and how to kiss on both cheeks and avoid disaster.

Top 5 Aggravating Fictitious Male characters

This week I've been reminiscing about the most aggravating but lovable male characters. Here's my top 5

1)Fitzwilliam Darcy (Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen)


2)Greg (Chocolate Run by Dorothy Koomson) Simply because he slept with his best friend's girlfriend amongst other things but he's forgivable.


3)Daniel Cleever (Brigdet Jones Diary)

4)Jamie (Love from Both Sides by Nick Spalding) gave his date food poisoning and had intercourse with a women with questionable hygiene.


5) Christian Grey (Fifty Shades of Grey) Guilty Pleasure.