Saturday 27 June 2015

#bookshopcrawl 2015


Today my very good friend Julie and I went to The Riverside Bookshop in Hays Galleria, London Bridge to take part in #bookshopcrawl #IBW2015 as this was our nearest Independent Bookshop. I bought two books, Naming Jack The Ripper by Russell Edwards for my husband as we are both very much into Victorian crime and are fascinated (if that's the right word) by Jack The Ripper! and The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon for my son, who is a big fan. 


It was lovely catching up with my friend Julie again as we had a good old catch up about the books we have read recently but to be honest, I wasn't at all impressed with this particular bookshop as the poor staff didn't have a clue what I was going on about when I mentioned this years book crawl! and so there were no goody bags or anything remotely to do with #IBW2015. In an age when the e-reader is dominating the sales of books you would think that independent bookshops would do everything they could to promote themselves!! I know that buying e-books, books from charity shops and online can be cheaper, but there's something about rummaging around a good old fashioned bookshop! I'm sorry to say, but next year I will be looking for somewhere that is promoting this event better! 

We did manage to drown our sorrows with a couple of cheeky drinks and lunch by the river, so it wasn't all doom and gloom!!



Sunday 21 June 2015

Romance Festival 2015

I was very lucky to win an invitation to the Romance Festival which was held yesterday at the gorgeous Harper Collins building in London Bridge. It was a great opportunity to meet lots of authors and chat to them about their books in an informal setting and to also catch up with lots of other blogger friends (and some new ones!!). We had some cake, strawberries and a few glasses of pink fizz whilst getting our books signed and generally mingling with everybody.


Some of the lovely authors that were at the event(Zara Stoneley, Erin Lawless, with Charlotte from Harper Collins, Carmel Harrington and Bella Osborne)



Some of my lovely blogging friends - Sharon, Laura, me, Amanda and Rea (trust her to be holding onto her glass of fizz!!)

 Me with Haley Hill after she signed a copy of her debut novel It's Got to be Perfect.

The lovely Jenny Oliver, who very kindly made me a winner and sent me a ticket! she signed a copy of The Vintage Summer Wedding.

Erin Lawless (after having knocked her pink fizz over me in excitement!) with her new book Somewhere Only We Know - it's not out for another 5 weeks so Erin was very excited to see the finished book for the first time!

Alexandra Brown signed a copy of The Great Christmas Knit Off for me.

And the delightful Carmel Harrington who made a flying visit from Wexford in Ireland for the day signed a copy of The Life You Left for me. I could listen to her gorgeous accent all day!!


I would just like to say a huge thank you to everyone at Harper Collins, Harper Impulse, Mills & Boon, Harlequin and Carina for hosting such a brilliant event and letting us have handfuls of beautiful books along with a goody bag filled with a t-shirt, note book, fridge magnet and yet more books!! I had an amazing day and felt very privileged to be able to attend.




Sunday 14 June 2015

This book post made my day.......


Yesterday I received in the post a copy of Kate Rhode's latest book in the Alice Quentin series which is due to be published on 18th June (my birthday!!). So can you imagine how delighted and overwhelmed I was to not only receive a copy hot off the press, but to find out that Kate has mentioned me on page 323 in her acknowledgements!! 


I love Kate Rhode's work and came across her books quite by accident when I was researching about the Crossbones Cemetery in South East London and by Googling the name I saw her first book in the series Crossbones Yard on Amazon and promptly bought it! From then on I have been hooked on her work and always eagerly await her new books. 

I constantly badger her on Twitter, asking when the next instalment is due (sorry Kate!) and have even made a few Twitter friends in the process!! 

Thank you Kate for writing such gripping, spine tingling novels that have me gripped from beginning to end and always leave me wanting more. I love them!

Saturday 6 June 2015

No Place For A Lady by Gill Paul Blog Tour


IN WARTIME, THE RULES OF LOVE CHANGE …
1854. Britain is fighting a gruesome war.
There has been no news of Lucy Gray since she eloped with handsome and impetuous Captain Charlie Harvington and embarked with him to the Crimea.
Dorothea Gray will risk anything to heal the rift with her little sister and bring her home safe. She determines to join Florence Nightingale and the other courageous women travelling to the battlefield hospitals as nurses.
She will not rest until she finds her sister.
Lucy, however, is on a very different journey, a journey through tragedy, trauma and true love.
But neither sister is prepared for the challenges they will face, the passion they will each taste and the simple fact that they might never see one another again …
A spellbinding and exquisite tale of courage, adventure and love. Prepare to be swept of your feet!


Review
I do love a bit of history and promised myself I would read more historical novels this year, so when I was asked to review this book I jumped at the chance!

It is about two sisters Dorothea and Lucy and how their lives change with the outbreak of war. It is set in 1800's during the Crimea war and Lucy marries a soldier at only 18 and travels with him to Turkey (which would be unthinkable nowadays!). Lucy has a falling out with her Sister Dorothea over her marrying young and they part on bad terms. 

Lucy marries Charlie and you just know that he isn't all he seems. She is very immature and naive and I felt really sorry for her at first, but as the book goes on her personality seems to change in her surroundings, which the author does brilliantly.

Dorothea is a typical "old maid" and mothers Lucy so much to the point that Lucy rebels and marries in spite of Dorothea's worries. I wasn't sure of Dorothea at first but she is one character that I really changed my opinion of by the end of the book and she was my favourite by the end! 

I would really like to read more about these characters and I must admit the ending wasn't what I was expecting, which makes me think there could be more?? 

Thank you to Avon Books UK for letting me be a part of this blog tour. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and love reading war time sagas and this one was brilliantly written, with great descriptions about places and events, which really did make me realise how awful the conditions must have been back then. 

I really need to read more of Gill Paul's books as I have not read any of her previous novels. Amazon here I come!!!

*****


Wednesday 3 June 2015

Little Acts of Love 
by
Tilly Tennant 
Review & Giveaway




Mishaps in Millrise – Book 1
Romantic Comedy
Published 10th May 2015

                                                                                                                        
Mishaps in Millrise – a four-(novella)-part romantic spin-off from Mishaps and Mistletoe

If you’re new to the town of Millrise, then come and meet the residents. If you fell in love with Phoebe and Jack last Christmas in Mishaps and Mistletoe, then you’ve just been invited to the best reunion ever…

Little Acts of Love:  Mishaps in Millrise Part 1

Almost five months have passed since Phoebe and Jack first met in the grotto of a drunken Santa at Hendry’s toy store in Millrise.  Since then, Jack and his adorable daughter, Maria, have turned Phoebe’s life around.  As she and Jack get closer, Phoebe decides it’s time to put her stagnating career back on track too, which means going for a big promotion at work. 


But nothing is ever simple in the strange little world of Hendry’s, and Phoebe is soon wishing she’d stayed on the tills.  At home, things aren’t much better as the couple brace themselves to meet their respective in-laws.  It’s clear from the start that making friends and influencing people has never been harder.  And to make it worse, Phoebe must compete for the affection of Jack’s parents with the perfect girlfriend and mother – who’s been dead for five years…

About the Author

Tilly Tennant was born in Dorset, the oldest of four children, but now lives in Staffordshire with a family of her own. After years of dismal and disastrous jobs, including paper plate stacking, shop girl, newspaper promotions and waitressing (she never could carry a bowl of soup without spilling a bit), she decided to indulge her passion for the written word by embarking on a degree in English and creative writing, graduating in 2009 with first class honours. She wrote her first novel in 2007 during her first summer break at university and has not stopped writing since. She also works as a freelance fiction editor, and considers herself very lucky that this enables her to read many wonderful books before the rest of the world gets them.


Review
I didn't read the Christmas story of Mishaps in Millrise so I was worried that I wouldn't be able to follow this story, but I was pleasantly surprised to be able to follow the characters straight away. 

Phoebe works in a toy shop and has been seeing boyfriend Jack for a few months and he has a lovely daughter Maria. Phoebe is still mourning her previous partner but is trying to get on with her life and therefore goes for a big promotion at work. 

Phoebe obviously didn't get all of the information regarding her interview for the promotion as she didn't know about a presentation she had to give. She asks her colleague and friend to help and she ends up singing a rap song instead of giving a computer presentation!! It was absolutely hilarious, I couldn't stop laughing for ages!!

Anyway I won't tell you too much more except I am not 100% sure about Jack and I think there is a lot more to come from their relationship. I hope I can get to read the other instalments as I am very interested in knowing what happens next............






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