This book is hard to classify into a genre, and in fact it’s very different to the sort of book I generally go for. Here is the synopsis:

This is the story of Peter, a Cambridge geography don who crashes his car into a tree stump when swerving to avoid a cat, and Mina, the girl at the Sheffield call centre who deals with his insurance claim. It tracks their parallel lives, as well those of their families – because both Peter and Mina are single parents.

An old-fashioned fairy tale of love across the class divide, it is also a book about the small joys and tribulations of parenthood; about one-ness and two-ness; about symmetry and coincidence; about the things which separate us and the things which bring us together.

It is a story, in fact, of the accidents of geography.

Of course, regular blog readers will know that I generally go for the very romantic books out there.  Rosy Thornton’s book is perhaps not obviously romantic, but it is a gentle love story of two people who are meant to be together right from the start. The idea is a really good one. How do two people who are meant to be together, yet live so far apart and have only ever spoken on the phone get it together?

Well, as always, I never give away story or plot details but it was interesting to see how it all happened. In the meantime, the sub-characters (as well as the main ones) were brilliantly drawn. We get a full picture of their life and the ups and downs of a “not obvious” romantic “coming together”. Many books nowdays can be overly melodramatic, but this is a lovely book that leads two people with very modern problems to find love.

The authors writing flows effortly in describing the characters and their everyday circumstances and as I was reading it, I got the feeling that in years to come, her book could become a good reference of how we lived now. A bit like how Elizabeth Gaskell’s work gives modern readers an insight into the everyday living of Victorians.

So, overall, a great refreshing read and I look forward to more from Rosy Thornton.

Rating: 9/10

I bought this book the same time as Nell Dixon’s new Little Black Dress book and thought it sounded good. I sat down to flick through it, intending to read Nell’s book first.  However, I couldn’t put it down and ended up reading it in two days. Here is the synopsis:

When Carrie’s fiancé Huw suddenly calls off their wedding, and she finds out he’s marrying another woman, she’s devastated. Desperate to get away, Carrie jumps at her best friend Rowena’s suggestion of a road trip in her VW camper van. But when Rowena has to pull out and Matt Landor, an old friend of Huw’s, ends up filling the breach, she’s not so sure. Will fate take the pair on an altogether different journey?

I have to say, I couldn’t find anything wrong with this book. The characters were great, the plot hung together perfectly and it had a great ending.  The hero and heroine had great chemistry and the sub-characters were funny and real and interesting. It was perfect.

I’m not really one of those people who is good at writing reams of stuff in a review (unless it was a poor book). So all I’d say is go out and get a copy of this book NOW! You won’t regret it. It was a pleasure to read. Thank you Phillipa Ashley.

Rating: 10/10

Wow what a week and a half! I’ve devoured the entire Twilight saga (4 books in all) in that time.

My husband was starting to get a bit annoyed with me reading all my spare time….bless him.

Ok, where to start: The Twilight saga or series is taking over bookshops everywhere (and cinema’s). It’s a vampire love story between Edward, a 17 year old vampire and Bella a human. Now, I know what you are thinking “But I don’t like vampires.” all blood and biting etc. However, this is different. Edward is different, in fact he’s every girl dream man (even though he’s not a man!)….

When I was reading the first book (Twilight) I had to keep checking I wasn’t reading a Mills and Boon. What I’m trying to get across is don’t be prejudiced against reading it. If you love a love story – you’ll love this.

They are books that you will want to re-read (esp the first one) and while there are a few things that didn’t make sense or didn’t feel right, they are exceptionally good. I do have one major gripe – the second book : New Moon was pretty awful. There is a long period of the book where Bella and Edward are apart, and whilst I can see in the grand scheme of things it was part of the overall story – it was a bit of a betrayal on the reader who wants to get as much of Edward on the page as possible….

However, the third book (Eclipse) was brilliant and the last book (Breaking Dawn) was very good too (though the last quarter dragged a bit).

One of my friends said to me “Stephanie Meyer can’t spin a story like JK Rowling”. I agree. Whilst these are definitly worth reading and had me enthralled and unable to put them down – they are not quite on par with dear old JKR.

So go find yourself a copy of Twilight and then say like me ”Move aside Mr Darcy, Edward Cullen is taking your place!”

Ratings:

Twilight: 10/10

New Moon 4/10

Eclipse 10/10

Breaking Dawn 8/10

 As some of you regular readers know, I am a big Jane Austen fan, and I’ve read quite a few modern versions of her work (Melissa Nathan, Kate Fenton spring to mind, as well as Bridget Jones).

What I have found in reading these books is that they are usually only very loosely based around the original story. This has been a little frustrating for me as I often wondered why they had been changed so much when the original was so good.

But lo and behold, at last, a modern version of a Jane Austen book that sticks to the original story, and  is a fantastic read.

Here is the synopsis:

Mark Knightley – handsome, clever, rich – is used to women falling at his feet. Except Emma Woodhouse, who’s like part of the family – and the furniture. When their relationship changes dramatically, is it an ending or a new beginning?

Emma’s grown into a stunningly attractive young woman, full of ideas for modernising her family business. Then Mark gets involved and the sparks begin to fly. It’s just like the old days, except that now he’s seeing her through totally new eyes.

While Mark struggles to keep his feelings in check, Emma remains immune to the Knightley charm. She’s never forgotten that embarrassing moment when he discovered her teenage crush on him. He’s still pouring scorn on all her projects, especially her beautifully orchestrated campaign to find Mr Right for her ditzy PA. And finally, when the mysterious Flynn Churchill – the man of her dreams – turns up, how could she have eyes for anyone else?

With its clueless heroine and entertaining plot, this modern re-telling of Jane Austen’s Emma stays true to the original, while giving fresh insights into the mind of its thoroughly updated and irresistible hero.

I loved the way this novel took all the characters you love in the original Emma and planted them into the modern world – it worked really well.

Emma herself is still both lovely and extremely irritating at times (just like the original). Mark Knightley is every woman’s dream, and Juliet did a great job of giving both of them a history (and no, Emma isn’t a virgin).

This book also has a lot of humour in it, which will always get bonus points from me.

So overall, if you love Jane Austen and want to read something fresh and new, then this is the book for you. If you don’t like Jane Austen because it’s a historical novel or some other strange reason like you have no taste, then this is the book for you too. You’ll be very pleasantly surprised.

Juliet has her version of Persuasion coming out next, which I’m very excited about.

Rating 10/10

Those who know me, know that I am a big Harry Potter fan. Despite this, there have been two occasions when I have been really annoyed with JK Rowling.

1) When she wrote The Tales of Beedle the Bard and wasn’t going to release it to the Potter fans like me

2) When she donated £1 million to the Labour party.

Regarding number 1) all is forgiven ;0).

As for number 2……well if she wants to help keep a bunch of muppets running the country who are are slowly taking away people’s civil liberties and reducing everyone to the lowest common denominator, well she’ll have to live with that! Personally, I think she’s crazy!

 Anyway, politics aside, The Tales of Beedle the Bard was warmly welcomed by me. The book contains 5 different fairy tales, one of which is already in the final and 7th Harry Potter Book. The fairy tales are written for the magical world, rather than muggles (non-magical people) and are great stories in themselves.

However, the really great thing about the book is that JKR has written after each Fairy Tale a commentry by Dumbledore. This is what makes the book really special and are very funny and endearing.

So, overall, this will please Potter fans just like me. Those who haven’t read the Potter books will like the Fairy Tales but the commentry bit may be confusing.

Also, if you haven’t read the 7th and final Potter book, I’d leave reading this until after. It may give some of the story away….kinda.

Rating 10/10

I have a stack of Pamela Morsi books and I thought it was time I read another one.

Here is the synopsis:

The last thing widow Althea Winsloe wanted to do was remarry.  Unfortunately, her meddlesome mountain neighbors had other plans.   So, one autumn night they banded together and gave Althea a shocking ultimatum:   She was to find herself a husband by Christmas…or the town would do it for her!   Althea knew she had her choice of any single man in Marrying Stone, Arkansas.   Yet the only one she felt truly comfortable with was Simple Jess.  Sweet and gentle, Jess wasn’t as smart as your average man.  But his tender manner stirred Althea’s heart in ways she had never dreamed possible.

It would take a miracle to find a husband in Marrying Stone.  But sometimes miracles are right under your nose…
This book was certainly different. Different in the fact that the hero has what we would term today as having
Learning difficulties. Jess, though he is called “Simple” by the other folk around him, is still a man and one who does work things out in his head often enough to make sure he does the right thing.

This book does have quite a lot of time filling. But just like the last Pamela Morsi book I read, the sub-characters are excellent and almost take over the book again.

I was particularly interested in one male character who was gay. Obviously this being 1906, it’t not something he admits to, but he does tell his sister, who doesn’t fully understand it. Watching his struggle as his family urge him to marry was a refreshing story. He knows he is different to others, they know he’s different, but they never say it in the open.

There is a little boy in the story who is 3 years old, I felt he spoke a bit too adult-like – maybe like a 7 or 8 year old.

The heroine is very likeable, she owns a farm and wants to stay single now she’s widowed.

Overall, I felt that while this was quite a good book, it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. I think the chemistry between the two leads wasn’t great. There is a good insight into community life in the mountains in the USA – everyone interfering in everyone elses life, family feuds etc…

So overall, not bad, but not great either.

Rating: 7/10

Oh dear. There comes a time when I want to weep, and now is that time. I love Julia Quinn as an author, and I was really happy when this book came out. I eagerly downloaded it (it was an ebook). However, I want my money back. This book is a total waste of time and money.

This is the second in a series – the first being “The Lost Duke of Wyndham.” However, it appears that rather than having 2 different books with the same characters appearing in both books and with different stories - this has the same scenes as the first book but told with different point of views. There are some new scenes, (scenes that were alluded to in the first one) but not enough to warrant an entirely new book.

Once I had realised this, I skim read through and lost all sympathy and interest in the characters. I really didn’t care.

Surfice to say, I am disgusted that a) Julia Quinn agreed to release this book and b) that her publishers seem to have total disregard for her readers by trying to fobb off the same story with the same scenes in two separate books. It’s such a shame because the first book in the series was brilliant.

I want my money back. I think it may take me some time to forgive Julia Quinn for this. All I can hope is that it was her publishers idea and that she was forced to do it….

Rating: 0/10

(I don’t normally rate books I didn’t finish, but this is an exception)

I was eager to read this book as soon as it was released. Here is the synopsis:

Right man, wrong century?

Feeling trapped between an attraction to her rich, handsome boss and loyalty to her penniless boyfriend, Jessica “Jez” Skelton hopes a visit to her aunt’s house will clear her head. Instead, a box of inherited letters raises the dust of the past—and clouds her present even more.

The eighteenth century letters resurrect the tragic love story of Sarah, a woman who was mysteriously erased from the family history. A woman whose love for a rich and powerful lord forms a disturbing parallel to Jez’s life. Is it a warning not to succumb to her boss—or risk suffering the same unhappy fate?

Piers Cordeaux knows his advances are forcing Jez into a corner, but he can’t seem to help himself. Something about her reaches deep inside him, awakening needs that all his money can’t satisfy. He can’t shake the conviction that they are meant for each other.

As Jez tries to ignore her growing attraction to Piers, she is drawn deeper into her ancestor’s desperate story. And she begins to wonder if her connection to Piers is an accident…or the work of a ghost whose determination to claim his lady reaches across two centuries of time.

Well what can I say? Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!

Why can’t mainstream publishers release more stuff like this? It was such a nice change, well-written, page turning (or the ebook equivalent of page turning). It had everything, a simple yet enthralling storyline, great characters you really cared about and a lovely ending.

I love historical fiction (it had that), I love modern fiction (it had that too)…On the publishers website here, it categorisies it as a paranormal romance. I wouldn’t call it *that* paranormal (not that I’m an expert). Anyway, if you a reader who isn’t sure about paranormal books – don’t be put off by that label.

I loved the way Piers chased Jez, and the historical paralelled story worked really well along side it and was very moving. There were eerie bits that were enthralling. It was a bit like Cinderella meets the ghost of christmas past.

I would say more, but I would have to be more specific and I don’t want to give the story away – you’ll have to discover it yourself by reading it!

Well done Melinda, a great book. Hope you do more like this.

Rating 9.5/10

I got this out of the library because I wanted to see what all the fuss about Jill Mansell was. I picked up the book the other night to have a flick through it just to see what it was like. 2 Hours later I was still reading and realising that I was loving the book.

Here is the synopsis:

Lola has no intention of accepting when her boyfriend Dougie’s snobbish mother offers her £10,000 to break up with him. Then she discovers a secret that makes her think again. Dougie would probably have broken up with her in the long run, and this way she can help one of the people she loves most in the world.Ten years later, though, when Lola meets Dougie again, her feelings for him are as strong as ever. But she broke Dougie’s heart and he’s about to discover that she was paid to do it. She can never tell him the truth, so can she get him back? Well, Lola’s very attractive and very persuasive. But even she’s got her work cut out this time…

I thought I would never read another “Click-lit” book (not bec I’m snobby) but after the Freya North debacle, (see earlier review) I decided not to waste my time with “that sort of stuff” again. However, what I didn’t count on was Jill Mansell being a terrific writer!

Her writing is very modern and funny and witty and readable and….I could go on, but I think you get the drift!

The main character (Lola) is refreshing in that she is self-assured, she knowswhat she wants and she goes out to get it. She tries to get her ex-boyfriend (Dougie) back (asking him some outrageous things) and along the way many things happen in her life. Ordinarily I would of got bored reading the non-romantic bits, but Jill Mansell has a way of making the other stuff really interesting and page-turning.

What the synopsis doesn’t tell you is that there are other characters in the book who are given quite a lot of coverage in the book. Gabe and Sally are the sub characters who have a great story too and they made the book for me.

Couple of minor gripes - at the end when Dougie finally gives into Lola and takes her back, I kinda felt it was not quite beleiveable that he had an about face. But maybe thats just because the man’s point of view was never written. Also, I thought about 4/5ths through it was dragging a little.

Anyway, if you’ve not read a Jill Mansell book before, give it a try. It was really very very good. And you all know what a fussy reader I am!

Rating 8/10

This is a new author for me, recommended by one of the girls from Bookishly Attentive.

Here is the synopsis:

Year’s ago, Captain Jack Endicott’s young half sister vanished after a carriage accident. Now, hardened by fighting in the Peninsular wars, Jack sets out to honour his father’s dying wish that he find the missing girl. Disdainful of “proper” gentlemanly pursuits and refusing to live off his noble brother, Jack makes a bold play. He’ll open a lavish gaming parlour in London – and, by hiring only beautiful ladies to deal cards, possibly find his sister. All he needs is a little luck.

Schoolteacher Allison Silver is at her wits end. After an arduous journey escorting a precocious pupil to her grandparents in London, the old folks are not even home to take delivery! And the only possible alternative guardian is a known womanizer who runs a gabmling house, of all things.

Yet when the proud Jack meets the prim Alllie, the odds are surprisingly even – and all bets are off in the wild game of romance….

This is the second in a series of 3 books, and I haven’t read the first. There was no problem with getting into the book becasue it was the second and the author gives a well dispersed overview of the series storyline (that of the missing girl) so you know whats going on.

I did feel howwever, that the plotline of the missing girl was a bit of a misnomer and a little contrived. It wasn’t mentioned all that much, and instead of information about her being dispersed through the book, suddenly near the end, the bow street runners who were looking into the case found loads of information.

That aside, I did enjoy reading this book very much. All the characters were wonderfully written, and the author has a great and vivid way of drawing them. Certainly one of the most appealing things about this story was how different it was to other Regencies. Set in a gaming house, it was very refreshing from the usual country houses or town houses. The setting also meant that the secondary characters were more colourful (if you know what I mean)…

The story revolves around prim Allie and handsome Jack who are the perfect match if only Allie can get over her worry about losing her reputation and Jack can…well it’s just the usual man who is wealthy, has a mistress, why would he want to marry?

However, Jack is lovable and sweet and Allie can be a bit annoying at times. But this was a page-turner albeit more of a soap opera than an epic drama. Near the end I was expecting something major to happen but it never did. When I closed the book having finsihed it I was also surprised that there was no love scene. I don’t mind either way if a book has a love scene as long as it fits in with the story. In this book there was a lot of pent-up sexual tension and I was expecting it several times but it didn’t happen.

So overall, while I was reading this book I loved it. When I finished it and reflected back there were many plot points and issues with characters that just didn’t add up…and I feel a bit disappointed with it.

I will probably give Barbara Metzger another go maybe the 3rd book in the series.

Rating 7.5/10