Merry Christmas Everyone!! Last Christmas

Synopsis

For Lucy, the best Christmas present is forgetting the past.

Eager to banish the ghost of Christmas past - when her boyfriend dumped her on the streets of Paris - Lucy is determined to make this the best Christmas ever. She rallies friends and family for an epic celebration that just happens to fall on the same day as her ex's festive wedding. Furious at how she's been treated, Lucy can't help relishing the party v wedding smackdown.

But when the wedding is threatened and only Lucy can help, can she find the spirit inside to save the day, or will this Christmas be even more disastrous than the last


Quick Thoughts 

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

This year I haven't been feeling very Christmasy. I've been grumpy and out of sorts. However this book has put me in a Christmas mood. It's well written, full of romance and perfect for Christmas. A great read for everyone looking for a festive read.

Merry Christmas Everyone. Hope you have a lovely day filled with love and joy.

Review: The Husband's Secret

Synopsis

Mother of three and wife of John-Paul, Cecilia discovers an old envelope in the attic. Written in her husband's hand, it says: to be opened only in the event of my death.

Curious, she opens it - and time stops.

John-Paul's letter confesses to a terrible mistake which, if revealed, would wreck their family as well as the lives of others.

Cecilia - betrayed, angry and distraught - wants to do the right thing, but right for who? If she protects her family by staying silent, the truth will worm through her heart. But if she reveals her husband's secret, she will hurt those she loves most . . .

Review

I once watched a film, The Women. It was a laborious bore from start to finish. This is exactly how I felt whilst reading the Husband's Secret. I should say that the first two chapters of this book are gripping and funny however the rest of the book slides into tedium. The cover is beautiful, I had very high expectation from Moriarty and it failed to deliver.I was unsure what the author was trying to achieve, did she want the serious style atmospheric thriller or is she attempting a a Marian Keyes with wit and humor.

This book falls between the two. Jodi Picoult is the queen of moral dilemmas and intertwining characters and she does this very well. Moriarty fails to do this, the end result being that The Husband's secret is an overly long bore. The end is also predictable and could have been shorter by a couple of chapters.  It suffers from The Dorothy Koomson syndrome, there are too many characters and way too much of everything. It is also as believable as Prince Harry marrying a Katie Price.

There were too many women competing for my attention and unfortunately not a single voice deserved my time.  Now I know how George Clooney feels.

Quick Review: After The Party

Synopsis

Eleven years ago, Jem Catterick and Ralph McLeary fell in love. They thought it would be for ever, that they'd found their happy ending.

Then two became four, a flat became a house. Romantic nights out became sleepless nights in. And they soon found that life wasn't quite so simple any more.

Now the unimaginable has happened. Two people who were so right together are starting to drift apart - Ralph is standing on the sidelines, and Jem is losing herself. Something has to change. As they try to find a way back to each other, back to what they once had, they both become dangerously distracted - but maybe it's not too late to recapture happily ever after ... Purchase

Review

There's no doubt in my mind that Lisa Jewell is a fantastic author, her voice is unique, captivating with a hint of cynicism and although I enjoyed After The Party, there was a part of me that didn't quite believe in the characters or the story-line.

This is the sequel to Ralph's party which I haven't read and after reading After the Party will not be reading. However this also meant that I didn't know the characters or their background as well as someone who has read Ralph's Party.   We meet Jem and Ralph twelve years later (After Ralph's party), they have two children, they've suffered a few miscarriages and fertility issues. They are deeply unhappy with their lives both unknowingly looking for a way out. I had a feeling that this was a great book for those who've read Ralph's party, for those of us who haven't, it was just like any other book about relationships; not particularly unique enough to stick in my mind as an all time great.

Review: The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving

Synopsis

Benjamin Benjamin was at rock bottom. Homeless and down to his last penny, enrolling on a short night course in the fundamentals of care-giving seemed the smart thing to do. But nothing in the manual could have prepared Ben for Trevor, a sarcastic teenager stuck in a wheelchair. And that's assuming Ben read the manual properly in the first place...

The first rule of care-giving is Be Professional. So Ben probably shouldn't tell Trevor why his wife Janet is divorcing him. He probably shouldn't mention that he contemplated suicide last night either.

The second rule of care-giving is Don't Get Emotionally Involved. So Ben definitely shouldn't pack Trevor into the back of a campervan and drive hundreds of miles through the desert so he can patch things up with his father. Especially when Trevor's mother has absolutely forbidden it. Especially when an epic road trip like this could go so disastrously, gloriously wrong...

Funny and tragic, this is the story of an unlikely friendship and a man and a boy's journey back to life.

Review

"I was broke when duty called me to minister to those less fortunate than myself, so maybe I'm no Florence Nightingale. And maybe in the light of all that happened with Piper and Jodi, I'm not qualified to care for anybody."

The Revised Fundamentals of Care giving is a life lesson in appreciating the simplest things in life, in believing in hope and finally a story about a man shrouded in guilt looking for a way out of his own head. It is centered on Ben, a caregiver walking through life remorseful, filled with regrets. Ben, a once stay at home day with a happy marriage and two beautiful children is at his lowest point somewhere between sadness and delayed depression. He gets a job as a carer for a smart-arse, quick witted boy and together they embark on a road trip across America to see the boy’s father with whom he has a difficult relationship. Along the way there is a birth, a teenage girl with attitude, unpalatable food and questionable motels.  

 

Ben is a sorrowful character, immersed in depression, he wishes and hopes for a better tomorrow where his wife won't hate him and his kids play with their granddad on a sunny day in June.  Instead he is faced with a bleak future without his children or his wife. Ben recounts throughout the entire book his previous life describing the domestic home as stills in a picture frame, he gazes at them knowing that he can never get back those moments of sitting in the park with his children and his wife. We learn early on that his children are dead and he blames himself and it’s almost as if he can never forgive himself.

 

Lyrical almost, the story draws parallels between his life now and his life then, capturing a soft, centered musical fleet of emotions, moments in life painted as a long forgotten memoir. The characters are real and the dialogue is superb. I began to question whether Ben would ever find happiness and the end scene where Ben has a heart to heart with his ex-wife we are given  hope that he will finally be happy. With the death of his children, Ben might never find complete happiness however there’s hope and hope is all we ever have. 

Review: Learn Love in a week

Synopsis

After ten years of marriage, Polly and Arthur are at crisis point:

Polly

'Arthur is the IKEA wardrobe of husbands. He looks good in the pictures, but if you ask him to hold anything, his back pops out.'

Arthur

'I have the libido of the Giant Panda; I know what sex leads to. It leads to a small person who likes to post toast in the DVD player.'

Can they learn to love again? And if they can, will they still choose each other?


Review

Like many relationships, there comes a point where love becomes stale, monotonous, long winded, a never ending surge of dreariness and sexless existences. Love in real life is a disappointment, when the romance and the flowers have stopped, replaced by nappies, Mr Tumble and school runs, that’s when the real challenge begins, this is the point where divorce becomes an option. How do relationships survive past this point?  Why do couple’s divorce and how do so many others make it work past ten years?  As much as I dislike Gwyneth Paltrow she put it perfectly in one of her interviews “I asked my dad once, “How did you and Mum stay married for 33 years?” And he said, “Well, we never wanted to get divorced at the same time”.  

This is where Arthur and Polly are at the beginning; she is tired and fed up with Arthur and his beautiful incompetent body, she longs for what could have been with James, a guy who could have been the one. She is plagued by memories of that one perfect date and wonders how her life would have had she ended up with James. She is tired of being the breadwinner and longs for a house somewhere in the countryside which she cannot afford whilst she’s with Arthur.  Arthur, a stay at home dad loves his wife and children however he is fed up of feeling emasculated and unappreciated by Polly. He loves her and wants to make it work and for this reason they manage to stay together. However getting to that point where they finally find happiness, they go through trials from best friends, nipple licking, pool parties, obnoxious teenagers and hospitals all in a week.

Learn Love in a Week, a simple read, made spectacular by the anecdotal and conversational way in which we are immersed into Author and Polly’s life. This is a story seen from three view pints, Polly, Arthur and Emily (Polly's best friend). Arthur is a lovely characters, self pitying and incompetent at times but all the same just as wonderful. Polly was annoying, constantly nagging and unappreciative, she is unsure of who she is and in her state of confusion, she hurts those around her. Emily was an unnecessary voice, an intruder in a story that should have sorely been about a couple going through trying times. 

In the end this was a great read and as much as I tried I found it impossible to put down. 

Review: Brand New Friend

Synopsis


When Rob's girlfriend asks him to leave London and live with her in Manchester not only will it mean moving cities and changing the only job he's ever had, it'll also mean leaving behind his best mate in the entire world. 

Believing that love conquers all and convinced of his ability to make new friends, Rob takes the plunge. 

Six months, and yet to find so much as a regular drinking buddy, Rob realizes that sometimes making friends in your thirties can be the hardest thing to do. With drastic action needed, his girlfriend puts an ad in the classifieds for him, but after three excruciatingly embarrassing 'bloke dates' Rob begins to truly despair. Until his luck changes . . . There's just one problem. Apart from knowing less than nothing about music trivia, football, and the vital statistics of supermodels, Rob's new friend has one huge flaw . . . She's a girl

Review

I love Mike Gayle for two reasons: one, his books are funny and two, he understands dialogue. I loved His and Hers and Mr Commitment  however Brand New Friend is rubbish, completely and utter nonsense.  Actually it is beyond rubbish, it was so rubbish I fell asleep whilst reading the book albeit it being that I read it whilst I was tired and commuting from work. This is the second book by Gayle that I haven't been inspired to rave about, the first one was The importance of Being a Bachelor which was also a tad bit dry and bland.  Brand New Friend is worse and here's why and for brevity I will list the reasons.

1. Brand New Friend sounds like every other Mike Gayle book (I've read so far.). It has the same stereotypical block characters with similar settings and similar conversations. 
2. The concept could work but it doesn't. It is cliched and lacked feeling. It felt at times that Gayle had given up and was recycling old material whilst watching an episode of Hollyoaks with his mates in a pub somewhere in Manchester. 
3. The book reads like an outline of what the book is about, it lacked content. Some chapters are way too short. I usually love short and snappy chapters but a page is a not a chapter unless you're writing a short story. There is also a half page chapter that made little sense. 
4. And lastly the characters are stale, Rob is caricature and Phil, the only redeeming character in the book wasn't utilized. 
5. And finally the women in this book are ridiculous, self pitying and lacking in personalities. 

I should end by saying that I still love books by Mike Gayle.

Review: Chase

Synopsis

The question that 23-year old Amalia Hastings desperately wants the answer to is: What happens to men when they move to Manhattan? Life in the new city gives Amalia a ride she is not expecting.

 As she tries to find her way on the little island that never sleeps, she discovers she has a harder time navigating through love then she does the streets of Greenwich Village and finds herself truly lost in the complex world of men. 

Review

"If you are supposed to be with someone, you won't have to chase them."

There's something to be said about chasing guys? We women never chase the safe one, the soft-hearted ones, we chase the head-ache inducing idiots. Aamalia Hastings has a perfectly safe boyfriend, Nicholas however she is in love with Micheal, the guy who seems too perfect.

We meet her as a hangover student living in a plush city, she's relatively similar to so many student, confused, constantly rushing around and generally living life. I have a soft spot for this book for the simple reason that not so long ago I was in a similar position, facing similar decisions, running around Sheffield with my head in the sky in love with a moron.  This book should read as a cliche, it wasn't. It is a coming of age story about a young woman with the world at her feet mooning over the small aspects of her life. It was a breath of fresh air, a new voice that wasn't tedious or over dramatic.

The author's voice is refreshing, very current and void of banality.This is New Adult done right. Forget the cheesy Anastasia Steels, this was a genuine character in believable scenarios.  This author has a very mature approach, her book is truthful and reminded me of how foolish I was not so long ago. I felt a connection with Amalia (I was not a fan of the name and had to come to terms with it) but I loved her simplicity as a character, she is an all American twenty something and ultimately this make her very relatable.  Chase was a lovely read, made me laugh and miss my University days. There is a sense of freedom with Manhattan, it made me want to skip and hop around in the rain.   I would highly recommend this.

Review: Growing Up Beautiful

Synopsis

In the summer of 1986, three young American women are chosen to join a modeling agency in Europe’s fashion capitol of Milan.

United as roommates by chance, Star, Joanne and Casey soon find their dreamed-of careers as models taking paths as different as their personalities.

Star, who leaves behind her waitress job along with a handful of crumpled up dollar tips, sees her beauty as a way move to the top of Milan’s social strata.

Joanne, raised in a privileged lifestyle, is expected to continue an Ivy League education, which doesn't interest her as much as a young photographer she meets on a casting.

Casey is a naïve seventeen year old who is ready for adventure, even the dangerous kind.

Together, these three learn the funny, unexpected and sometimes ugly truths about growing up beautiful.

Purchase

Review

I started this book a while ago but, struggled to get into it. I think it might have been the fact that I was reading similar books around the time therefore I was slightly disenchanted when I started reading this. However, I recently picked it up after months to discover it is not that bad (once you get into it.) I’m not a big fan of models or celebrities in general however, the synopsis sounded impossible to ignore.

I struggled reviewing this book since I wasn't sure how I felt about it. On one hand Lori Jones is clearly a brilliant author, the book is fluent, well written and in theory I should be head over heels in love with this book. However I didn't relate to any of the characters. I thought they were a tad self obsessed; they started to grate on me a few chapters. Overall it is not the worst book I've read this year but It is definitely not the best, which is shame really because I wanted to love it.

In a few months I might read this again and have a different opinion. 

Review: Miss Match...Affairs to Remember

Synopsis

Meet Tansy Breakspear. 

A mid-30s journalist, she works for a free newspaper called Urban Trend -- and writes a popular agony aunt column under the pseudonym of Betty Carpenter. 

Betty Carpenter’s advice to her readers is compassionate, clever and practical. She has a reputation for supplying sympathetic, workable solutions to readers who come to her with a bewildering range of relationship problems. 

But if anyone needs the help of an agony aunt, it’s Tansy herself. 

Her own love life is a major disaster area, and that’s putting it mildly. She’s having unsatisfactory affairs with two married men and has been stalking a third. 

As her relationships start falling apart, it seems that there’s nowhere to go for a single, sexy, self-deluding, Rubenesque redhead with a taste for expensive restaurants, illicit liaisons and Aperol Spritzers. 

But then a chance of happiness comes from an unexpected source, and it looks as though Tansy may find true love after all – with the help of Betty Carpenter. 

Will Tansy meet her perfect match? 

Or can Miss Match only match up other people? 

Purchase

Review 

I used to look down on women who sleep with married men until I realised how easy it is to become one of those women. A few days ago I had an interesting conversation with a friend who informed me of how she became her ex-boyfriend’s mistress. It was an interesting story as she found herself in the midst of a messy breakup, new girl friends and hoping she had held on to a past relationship. She described candidly how she had cleaned him up, changed his douche bag ways only for another woman to come and take her well earned prize. The reason she became the mistress was to claim a prize that now belonged to someone else.

Miss Match caught me unaware because it brought to the forefront the topic of married men and women that love them.  I love Nicola Yeager and I knew I would love this however I did not expect to love it as much not did I expect to feel such powerful emotions. Yeager is one of those underrated authors who is brilliant but not celebrated.

Miss Match follows Tansy a married man loving singleton dishing relationship advice to men and women. Miss Match follows her as she moves from one bad relationship to the next not really finding fulfilment or happiness in any of those relationships. The men she dates are egoistical, conceited morons looking a side dish along with their main meals.  Miss Match is well written, full of surprises and funny moments. The ending was annoying as it felt unfinished and abrupt. Apart from that one fault I loved it. Yeager is highly addictive.  

Author Interview...Emily Harper

Emily Harper is the author of White Lies. She kindly agreed to chat with HerBookList. 

Can you tell us a bit about White Lies and how it came about?

White Lies is about a woman who is unsure of herself and her abilities, but at the same time wants something more out of life.  I wanted Natalie Flemming (the main character) to be a reflection of a lot of women’s insecurities.  Her actions and thoughts are her own, but I think a lot of women can relate to her “waiting for her life to begin” and wondering where her happy ending is.

How did you get into writing?

I started noticing funny things but thought “I know what could make this a lot better…” so I started putting it down on paper.  There is a lot of things going on in my head on a daily basis- my writing is a reflection of that.

What is your average writing day like? 

I try and write every day, but I don’t put pressure on myself for length.  I think about what I want to happen in the story throughout the day and I think that really helps with writer’s block.

Who is your favourite character in White Lies and which character would you most like to bitch slap?

I love Natalie- it’s hard not to, but I also love Hank - because he is fabulous!  I think the character I would most like to slap is Claire- the nasty receptionist.  She isn’t overtly nasty like Angelica, but she just has those moments (that I think we have with everyone in life) that just grate on your nerves but not to the point you would actually say something and confront her.  It’s a subtle hatred lol.

Which character did was most difficult to write?

Oliver, hands down.  Because the novel is written in the first person, from Natalie’s perspective, it is difficult to write how Oliver is feeling/thinking because we only see him through Natalie’s eyes.  I had to write his feelings through his actions, and Natalie’s observations to his actions.

Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

My favourite quote in life is from Winston Churchill- it’s simple but it’s real.  “Never, ever, ever give up.”

White Lies

Synopsis

Imagine standing in line at Harvey Nichols waiting to buy the most gorgeous silk Gucci dress. The only minor problem? You can’t afford it, it's a size smaller than you are, and you have absolutely no place to wear it. 

Meet Natalie Flemming: a twenty-something woman working in London for a fabulous shoe-designing firm, but the only thing they let her touch is the company’s tax forms. She has decided to give fate a vacation and takes the task of finding the man of her dreams (or Johnny Depp if he would just return her calls...) into her own hands. 


She craves adventure, spontaneity, passion- or will just settle for a decent date.

White Lies can be purchased via (Amazon). You can find her on Twitter (@emilyswhitelies) or on her blog (http://emilyharper.wordpress.com/)

Review: Lovers at Heart

Synopsis

Handsome, wealthy resort owner Treat Braden is used to getting what he wants. When Max Armstrong walked into his life six months earlier, he saw right through the efficient and capable façade she wore like a shield, to the sweet, sensual woman who lay beneath. She sparked an unfamiliar desire in him for more than a one-night stand, leaving his heart reeling and his blood boiling.

 But one mistake caused her to turn away, and now, after six months of longing for the one woman he cannot have, he's going home to try to forget her all together.

Max Armstrong has a successful career, a comfortable lifestyle, and she's never needed a man to help her find her way--until Treat Braden caught her attention at a wedding in Nassau, causing a surge of emotions too reminiscent of the painful past she'd spent years trying to forget. Max will do anything to avoid reliving that pain--including forgoing her toe-curling, heart-pounding desire for Treat.


Review

This book proves one thing: Amazon reviews are nonsense. Why? Well, this book is crap, it's badly written, boring and tepid. I gave up half way through and skipped to the end. However, according to most Amazon reviews it is a captivating, well written read. It is neither of those things. The characters for example behave like teenagers, there's nothing sexy about a thirty seven year old man having a sulk. I was not captivated, I was very aggravated at how bad the write is. One thing I loved about Fifty Shades was that the author knew she was being ridiculous (or at least I hope she knew) and didn't take herself too seriously. This book takes itself way too seriously, there's no humor, the sex scenes are silly and the writing is beyond silly. The dialogue and interplay between the two characters reminded me of a bad lifetime film dragging on with no end in sight.   
Lover at Heart is undoubtedly a Mills and Boon, a cheesy, unrelenting romantic book and I usually have no issues with Mills and Boon, on the contrary I love Mills and Boon. However, this was just awful, so awful I had to stop reading in fear I would smash my Kindle to pieces.

How someone can write such tripe is beyond me. I'm kicking myself for believing Amazon reviewers. I'm now debating whether to give this author another read. 

Review: The Woman Who Made Men Cry

 Synopsis

It’s 1998 and Kim is a journalist in New York City. He thinks he’s found the only woman for him: Elise is beautiful, intelligent and, it goes without saying, a sensational lover. 

The only catch is that she doesn’t want just him – and he’s agreed to it. For months on end, Kim is tormented by the knowledge that his Elise is sleeping with someone else.


 Purchase Via Amazon

Review

"She did not set out to men cry. She was too kind for that." 

William Coles can write, there's no doubt about that. The woman who made men cry is a triumph, a truthful, moving exploration of a man in love.  The name attracted me to this book, i was fascinated as to how one single woman could make men cry and as Coles points out so perfectly, she doesn't try to make men cry, "she just listens, she absorbs, she takes it all in. And the she asks questions. Always, always, back come the questions, and often they are very simple questions. There is nothing much to it at all."

Right this a simple formulaic book; man meets woman, falls helplessly in love and disaster ensues.  Kim is a New York journalist for the The Sun, why anyone would want to work for the Sun is beyond me but I wasn't about to fault him for his career choice. That's however where the trouble starts as through he job he meets Elise, the ever elusive Elise who buys him a new knee for his birthday, dates other men and controls the cards.  She's full of contradictions, she's confident. damaged and alluringly beautiful in an era where sexual availability was rife.  Kim is transfixed by beauty, her confidence and blind to her faults.  Coles wanders though the niches of their relationships uncovering how Elise came to make Kim cry without succumbing to cliches and unnecessary narration. It is a funny, brilliant read.

The Medici Mirror

Synopsis

A hidden room

When architect Johnny Carter is asked to redesign a long-abandoned Victorian shoe factory, he discovers a hidden room deep in the basement. A dark, sinister room, which contains a sixteenth-century Venetian mirror.

A love in danger

Johnny has a new love, Ophelia, in his life. But as the pair's relationship develops and they begin to explore the mystery surrounding the mirror, its malign influence threatens to envelop and destroy them.

A secret history

 The mirror's heritage dates back to the sixteenth century, and the figure of Catherine de Medici - betrayed wife, practitioner of the occult, and known as the Black Queen.

Purchase

Review: The Rose Petal Beach

Synopsis

Every love story has a dangerous twist. Tamia Challey is horrified when her husband, Scott, is accused of something terrible – but when she discovers who his accuser is, everything goes into freefall. Backed into a corner and unsure what to think, Tamia is forced to choose who she instinctively believes. 

But Tamia's choice has dire consequences for all concerned, especially when matters take a tragic turn. Then a stranger arrives in town to sprinkle rose petals in the sea in memory of her lost loved one. 

This stranger carries with her shocking truths that will change the lives of everyone she meets, and will once again force Tamia to make some devastating choices...

Review

Tamia is a stay at home mum with a great life. When she finds out her husband has committed a horrific crime her world is turned upside down. The Rose Petal Beach has many voices, all female voices and for this reason to some extent it looses it edge. I would have preferred an alternative male voice.   At first it seems as though this is a book about marriage falling apart but, as the story progresses it becomes a book about the relationship between females.  Tamia is a decent central character that is as far as I can praise her. She is a doorstop, a pushover, the type of woman who never really deals with issues unless she is forced to and for this reason I didn't really warm to her.  I wanted her to stand up and she managers to do this at end. 


Koomsom asks so many questions from "what would you do if your husband was accused with a horrendous crime" to "would you look after your husband's mistress in your home if they were diagnosed with cancer". The problem was that so questions are asked and not all of them are dealt with sufficiently. There are too many plot twists from murder, affairs, miscarriages to sexuality reveals. It felt at times as though I was watching a very explosive episode of Eastenders. The frustrating aspect of this book was the fact that it could have been brilliant, it had all the elements to make turn it into masterpiece but it never reached its climax. It falls flat towards the end with revelations spanning from every angle.

There is no doubt that this book is page turner albeit a slow one. There are elements that work, Fleur is a great character, she is untouched and the most innocent. My favourite character strangely enough happened to be Scott because he was multifaceted, he had textures and flaws. He is at the beginning of the book a bit of a bastard, he cheats, lies and manipulates all the women around him but as the book progressed he attempts to rectify the mess he's created and it would be interesting to find out whether he manages to turn a new leaf.  The story moves at a slow pace with most things explored within an each eventually.

Was is a coincidence that the two villains of the book are white and the two seeming victims are black? I say this because there is a moment in the book where Tamia confronts her husband's mistress who is white. It made me question whether Tamia was ever comfortable with being a white man. Her type as she professes is Wade who is black and it seems as though she fell in love with Scott and over time he became her type. I brought this book a year ago and for some reason I found it very difficult to get into it however once I was halfway through I was captivated and found it impossible to put down.