Friday 12 February 2021

An Ordinary Life

An Ordinary Life 
by 
Amanda Prowse 
BLOG TOUR 
 I am delighted to be a part of the Blog Tour for An Ordinary Life and my very dear friend, Julie Williams, is a great fan of Amanda's books and so agreed to review this one for me. Thank you Julie.
REVIEW 
An absolutely wonderful story by the talented Amanda Prowse. Yes it tugs at your heart strings and you may find tears in your eyes but I can’t express how beautiful this book is. REVIEW This story tells of Molly recalling her life as she lies in bed having suffered a stroke and fall. She may not be able to move or talk but this 94 year olds' memories are sharp and vivid. The title An Ordinary Life doesn’t depict Molly’s life as she had endured so much in her lifetime. She has suffered deeply but also loved deeply. She can leave this world knowing that she is cherished and played a significant role leaving her mark on many. I love reading Amanda’s books as they are beautifully written with characters that I can’t help but hold in my heart. This story has all these and more. My thanks to Net Galley for the ARC.
Author Bio
Amanda Prowse is an International Bestselling author whose twenty six novels and seven novellas have been published in dozens of languages around the world. Published by Lake Union, Amanda is the most prolific writer of bestselling contemporary fiction in the UK today; her titles also consistently score the highest online review approval ratings across several genres. Her books, including the chart topping No.1 titles 'What Have I Done?', 'Perfect Daughter', 'My Husband's Wife', 'The Girl in the Corner', 'The Things I Know' and ‘The Day She Came Back’ have sold millions of copies across the globe. A popular TV and radio personality, Amanda is a regular panellist on Channel 5's 'The Jeremy Vine Show' and numerous daytime ITV programmes. She also makes countless guest appearances on BBC national independent Radio stations including LBC and Talk FM, where she is well known for her insightful observations and her infectious humour. Described by the Daily Mail as 'The queen of family drama' Amanda's novel, 'A Mother's Story' won the coveted Sainsbury's eBook of the year Award while 'Perfect Daughter' was selected as a World Book Night title in 2016. Amanda's ambition is to create stories that keep people from turning the bedside lamp off at night, great characters that ensure you take every step with them and tales that fill your head so you can't possibly read another book until the memory fades... Praise for Amanda Prowse: 'A powerful and emotional work of fiction' - Piers Morgan 'Deeply moving and emotional, Amanda Prowse handles her explosive subjects with delicate skill' - Daily Mail 'Uplifting and positive, but you will still need a box of tissues' - Hello! 'A gut-wrenching and absolutely brilliant read' - The Irish Sun 'You'll fall in love with this...' - Cosmopolitan 'Deeply moving and eye opening. Powerful and emotional drama that packs a real punch.' - Heat 'Magical' - Now magazine Social Media Links – Say hello on Twitter: @MrsAmandaProwse Friend me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/AmandaProwseAuthor Tag me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/MrsAmandaProwse Visit my Amazon Author Page: Amanda Prowse Author Check out my website: www.amandaprowse.com

Tuesday 2 February 2021

Christmas for Beginners

Christmas for Beginners
 by 
Carole Matthews
REVIEW 
My little old blog is 6 years old today and I am celebrating with a review by the lovely Carole Matthews, whose books I have loved for many years now. 

 This is a sequel to Happiness for Beginners and it follows the animal antics at Hope Farm which is run by Molly and her friend Bev. Molly loves the country life and when the original Hope Farm was being demolished to make way for a new rail link, her very rich actor boyfriend Shelby comes to the rescue and buys her a new farm which she is overjoyed at having.  

Molly also cares for Shelby's teenage son Lucas. He has anger problems (mainly involving his dad!), but loves living in the caravan on the farm with Molly. Shelby, in the meantime, is busy acting in a very famous soap and turns up to see them very sporadically! 

 Although Shelby bought the farm, Molly still has to keep it up and running and that includes helping to fund it and when they decide to hold a Christmas open day, it needs all hands to the pump to organise the event. 

Along comes handsome Matt, who happens to also be the local Mayor to help with the fundraising and also, it seems, a dab hand at farming! Will Molly get her head turned by Matt or will she wait for Shelby whose visits to the farm are becoming less frequent? 

 Lucas is a typical teenager, but you can tell his heart is in the right place, but he just can't seem to get close to his father, especially since the death of his beloved Mum. Molly seems to be the only one he can turn to in a crisis and he certainly has plenty of those in this second book! 

 This is another fabulous novel by Carole and I love the characters, so was really pleased that we were heading back to Hope Farm. I flew through this one and I would like to think we haven't heard the last of Molly and gang! 

 Thank you Carole for yet another great read and yes, I did laugh out loud when I read about the embarrassing alpacas at the Christmas open day!!