Must Read: Fractured

Synopsis

What would you do if life gave you a second chance?

The night of the accident changed everything... Now, five years on, Rachel’s life is crumbling. She lives alone in a tiny flat, working in a dead-end job, desperate with guilt over her best friend’s death.She would give anything to turn back the clock. But life doesn’t work like that... Does it?

The night of the accident was a lucky escape... Now, five years on, Rachel’s life is perfect. She has a wonderful fiancé, loving family and friends around her, and the career she always wanted. But why can’t Rachel shake the memory of a very different life?

Gripping, romantic and heartbreaking, Fractured is a magical love story that asks: can two different stories can lead to the same happy ending?

Review: Casting The Net

Synopsis

Anyone who’s dabbled with internet dating has a story to tell but few tell them as well as Julie McDowall.
Her online dating blog was an instant sensation when she charted her bizarre and hilarious experiences in search of the perfect man. Or at least a man who wasn’t a total freak. Or, failing that, a freak who was freaky in the right ways…

Now for the first time Casting The Net – Volume 1 presents the unexpurgated true story of her ongoing quest, including all the material deemed unfit for a family news site.

Join the eloquent, witty and intrepid McDowall as she tackles The Janny, The Accountant, The Comedian, Foxy Doctor, the inimitable Shug — and her ultimate nemesis, The Clown.Purchase

Review 

The painful world of online dating with its rules, games and overzealous personalities. No wonder almost 40% of women are single.  Channel 4 recently had a Mating season (a series of shows hylighting the horror that is online dating) where we saw first hand the horrors of first dates, if you missed the brilliant First Dates, I will sum it up in few words: cringe, cringe and more cringe. The individuals who appeared on the show were somewhat normal however compared to the characters in Casting the Net. The Janny, The Accountant, The Comedian, Foxy Doctor, the inimitable Shug are very unsuitable, in the world of online dating, they are the type of men to avoid. 

Casting The Net explores Julie's disastrous dates with The Janny, The Accountant, The Comedian, Foxy Doctor, the inimitable Shug. In a virtual sea full of men, Julie manages to find the unsuitable, the boring and the completely clueless.  It is an honest, painfully funny account of the misery of Internet dating.  I was also blown away by the  first paragraph of this book "He loved Stella more than me, so it had to end".  This book begins with an Julie making the conscientious decision to leave her alcoholic boyfriend. Her single status leads her onto online dating.   It is a multifaceted book exploring one woman's recovery from an abusive relationship to her trying to finding her way through the sea of unsuitables. There's a little desperation about her search for a relationship and like most single women, she's willing to try as many types of man as possible in search for a good man.

 I read this as a piece of fiction, it was my first introduction to this author and the more I read the more I wanted to find out about the author.  After a quick search I found out that Julie McDowall writes a blog for a Newspaper (Herald Scotland) on dating.  Her blog is delightful and very open.  This book is very similar if not identical to the blog, this does not detract from the book.  Julie McDovall is a brilliant author, she is humorous but truthful. I have to say however I wished this volume was longer, I was gripped, the characters are brilliant, the dialogue true to form, this book was a real joy to read. 

Digested Read

"And it wasn't just Stella, either. He loved Budweiser too, and Miller, and Kronenbourg. He loved all cheap drink. He was a booze whore and would go with anyone if the price was right. There was even a brief dalliance with cider when it was on a special offer but a few bottles made him queasy, so he returned to his beery lovers and wallowed and boozed and got further lost to me with each passing day"

"Now, I like the freaks and I'd rather have a dead fox text than some simpering 'hey
babes, saw this sunset and thot of u' crap. But even though Foxy Doctor had told me where he
lived, how much he earned, told me of his divorce and his new personalised licence plate on his
car, he wouldn't tell me what he was called. Even now, he was boldly texting me pictures of the
interior of his home, yet felt cagey about revealing his name. It was like strutting down the
street naked, but keeping a wee hat on for modesty."

Crazy In Love

Synopsis

Love on the rocks, with a twist.

Flynn Daly’s a screwup. She knows it, but worse, her property tycoon dad knows it, and that’s why he sends her off to Scheintown, NY—aka, the dead center of nowhere—to manage the beautiful countryside inn the family has just inherited while he figures out what to do with it. Being a part of the family business would be bad enough, but Flynn has to deal with an insecure staff, a sexy bartender with his own agenda, and regular ghostly visits from her nutty—and very dead—Great Aunt Esther.

Crazy is as crazy loves.

Can Flynn finally get it together and do something right? Can she uncover the mysteries that lurk behind the outward charm of the Goodhouse Arms? Or are the ghostly visits, and her undeniable attraction to the one man she should not be falling for, a sign that her life is spiraling out of control forever?

Don't miss this wry and heartwarming romantic comedy from master storyteller Lani Diane Rich.

Rainwater Kisses

Rainwater Kisses

The older sister of Emma LaRue wasn't looking for love. In fact, the last thing Kaylee LaRue thought as she attended her sister's Caribbean wedding was that she would meet a man as confident as Owen Parker. The suave businessman oozed charm, and when that charm was directed at Kaylee, it gave her pause. She couldn't be sure if the man was actually interested in her or just interested in a good time.

In reality, Owen Parker had never met anyone like Kaylee LaRue. The quiet girl from Iowa made him forget to breathe the first time he saw her. When he tried to work his magic, her wit proved to be a match for his, and his charms had no effect. He knew what it looked like- she probably thought that he wanted to have a vacation tryst with her just as Jack Saunders had with Emma. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Kaylee tried hard not to yield to his advances, but their last night in the Caribbean was simply magical. After a passionate night spent in the arms of Owen, Kaylee ruefully observed that there was no fake wedding to keep the two of them together. As she flew home, she thought it'd be back to the same old life for her. She never expected Owen to show up at her door.

However, this small town girl wasn't sure she was ready to change for this city boy. When Kaylee tried to fit into Owen's world, everything came crashing down. In the blink of an eye, what seemed like a strong foundation suddenly found itself built on a pillar of sand. Would their relationship blossom like Jack and Emma's, or would the two of them forever be haunted by the memories of rainwater kisses?

Purchase

Review: Olive Branches Don't Grow on Tress

Review 

The story of a 23 year old woman’s journey to bring peace to her feuding family, filled with humor, insight and lovable characters.


Review
Poignant, sweet and addictive, Olive Branches Don't Grow on Tress is well written book about the dynamics of an Italian family. Olive Branches Don't Grow on Tress is a about a family ripped apart by alcoholism. It based around Silvia who tries to bring the family together.  She is a great character, fresh out of university and in need of reassurance from the world. She is like most graduates unsure of how her life got so boring and inconsistent with her dreams. I found her story and her worries true and realistic.Grace Mattioli is a fantastic story teller, she captures the somber mood creating a sense of sadness that carries through the entire book.

She deals with alcoholism without being too dramatic. Her realistic view of alcoholism works in that she doesn't build a caricature of an alcoholic with the said alcoholic falling in a ditch somewhere unaware of his surroundings. She shows the true nature of alcoholism, Frank, Silvia's father is an alcoholic who can function in society.

This book is credit to the author. It shows that she can handle delicate matters without

There are other themes for example the author compares the hopes and dreams of the young against the tired old sums of the old. Silvia is dreaming of moving to another city, she contemplates this and like most graduates she has it in her mind that this place will provide her with more opportunities.  I found this need to escape realistic and truthful.  This book makes you realize two things: Grace Mattioli can write and 2) families are extremely chaotic institutions.

This is a great read. Grace Mattioli understand families. I would recommend this book wholeheartedly.

Must Read: Moody Not Broody

Emma is a newly-wed looking forward to some blissful years with her new husband, but everyone else expects her to have children. They think that because she is a teacher, she MUST want children. However, Emma has never wanted children and has to convince her husband, her family and her friends that she's not cut out for motherhood. 

Emma would much rather pursue her career in teaching and work with children with Special Educational Needs, but then her plans are thwarted and she has to make a choice which will affect her and her husband, Mike, forever.

This 'gripping, funny and light-hearted book' is a must read for every woman because, at some point, every woman has struggled to get their voice heard.

Purchase

Kate Perry: Laurel Heights Novels

All For You

Anna Godwin likes it spicy. 

At least she used to. Somewhere between law school and real life, she lost her sparkle. Now she wears boring business suits to boring dates in her boring life. 

The last time Anna remembers feeling that sizzle was with the one man who's all cayenne and passion: Max Corazao, the one who got away. 

Except Max still sees Anna as a woman full of spice. And Anna intends to do whatever she can to be that woman again—with his (unknowing) help...

Mad About You

Julie Miller wants one thing, and she wants it now: a trophy.

Not just any trophy: the First Prize Trophy for the San Francisco Flower Competition. She may not have the classical training of her nemesis, who's won the last five titles, but this is her year and she's taking no prisoners. Only when a sexy man walks right up to her and kisses the breath out of her, Julie wonders if there's a spark inside for more than just rose petals.

The men in Scott Wright's family always know their true love by her kiss... and Scott's kissed a lot of women. Most only want him for his money and status—until Julie. Only she's so focused on winning her trophy that he's afraid she's going to miss the true prize: love.

Sweet On You

Sugar and spice and everything…naughty?

Pastry-chef-to-the-stars Daniela Rossi wants one thing: the abandoned building South of Market. Turning it into a soup kitchen for the homeless is the only thing that's excited her in months. And Daniella needs to feel again. Until she finds herself feeling too much - for the man who's competition for the property.

Ruthless entrepreneur Nico Cruz wants one thing: the abandoned SOMA building he grew up in, where his brother was killed. Destroying it is the only thing that will set his brother's soul at peace. And Nico always gets what he wants. But Daniela's sweet temptation makes him question what it will take to soothe his own soul.

Fortunately, in this bidding war, all's fair...

Purchase