Archive for October, 2011

And Then It Happened by Linda Green
Publisher: Headline Review
Release Date: 13th October 2011 (PB)
Rating: 5/5
Source: Received from the publisher for review.
Amazon Summary:

How would you feel if the only man you’d ever loved was taken away from you? And imagine how he’d feel if he hadn’t really been taken away at all - but couldn’t find a way to let you know… Mel Taylor was thirteen years old when she found her Mr Right. Twenty years on they are blissfully in love. She has the man she adores, a gorgeous daughter, a great job and a dream home. But Mel’s happiness is spoilt by a dark secret and a niggling fear that her good fortune can’t last for ever. Despite her husband Adam’s efforts to reassure her that nothing bad is going to happen, Mel can’t shake the feeling that someone is about to call time on their happiness. And then it happens…

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I read and really enjoyed author Clare Jacob’s debut novel Ophelia in Pieces earlier this year, and I have to say it was the cover (left) that drew me to it because it looked quite different to normal chick lit, and had quite a classy look about it. However, for the paperback release in March 2012, the publishers have taken away from that more serious look and gone for the cartoony style (right) much more in line with other chick lit books out there. I do like the cover, but having read it, I still think the original suits it better, but I expect the newer cover will draw more attention and people might be more likely to pick it up. Which cover do you like best and why?!

Winter Flowers by Carol Coffey
Publisher: Poolbeg Press
Release Date: 30th August 2011
Rating: 5/5
Source: Received from the publishers
Amazon Summary:

When her dishevelled, eight-year-old nephew Luke comes knocking on her door in the middle of the night, Iris Fay knows her sister Hazel is in trouble again. This time, it is a house fire started by her drunken boyfriend Pete Doyle. As Iris is drawn back into Hazel’s dysfunctional lifestyle, she is haunted by her own past and also by the childhood memories she has kept secret from her sister. When Pete becomes an even greater threat to the family and her sons are placed in danger, Hazel realises she must turn her life around or else lose them. But then she stumbles on a pile of letters in her mother’s attic and their contents spiral her into an even darker place. Meanwhile Iris, too, is confronted by her past when her former husband Mark suddenly comes back into her life, looking for answers. Can the sisters face up to their memories and find the future they long for? Or will the secrets of their childhood continue to destroy them and those they hold dear?

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Back in June I read and thoroughly enjoyed The Midwife’s Confession by Diane Chamberlain. So I’m thrilled to bring the news that Diane will have another book released this year, on 1st December 2011, called The Shadow Wife. It sounds really fascinating and Diane Chamberlain is definitely an author who asks a lot of questions with her books and I can’t wait to read this one. Here’s the synopsis:

You love a man deeply. You’re carrying his child. If you find a way to heal his wife you’ll lose him forever. Mara Sommers and Joelle D’angelo have been best friends for years. They have shared everything, including the joy over Mara’s first pregnancy. But when something goes terribly wrong during childbirth, Mara is left severely brain damaged. Alone and grieving, Joelle turns to the one person who understands her pain: Mara’s husband. When Joelle discovers their one night of passion led to pregnancy, she’s torn between grief and the unexpected joy of being pregnant with Liam’s baby. But how can she tell him? They had put Mara on a pedestal she was perfect. Joelle and Liam can’t start a life when the shadow of his wife is there….

Thanks to Simon & Schuster publishers, we have 5 copies of the fabulous hardback book Debrett’s: A Modern Royal Marriage to give away to our readers! It’s a stunning book, containing lots of information on this year’s Royal Wedding including some beautiful full page photographs from the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton of April 2011, as well as historical Royal Weddings. There’s lots of information in there about the wedding, traditions, the bride and groom, the guests and much, much more. If you’re a fan of the Royal family, or Kate and William, then this is a lovely book to treasure! To enter, simply fill in the Google form below and tell us why you want to win a copy of this book.. the best 5 will be picked! This is a great prize, each book is worth a whopping £25, so it’s a superb prize.

1 entry per household, UK entries only. Competition closes on Sunday 16th October at midnight. Good luck!

Why we like/dislike it: The cover for Shirley Benton’s debut novel’s paperback release is vastly different to its original and, in my opinion, it’s miles better. The colours are beautiful, looking like a Vegas sunset (not that I’ve ever seen a Vegas sunset…) and the pinks used just pop really nicely. I like that the title takes precedence and that it’s the first thing your eyes are drawn to when you look at the cover. For me, it works. For me, it would definitely be noticed should I see it in a book shop and I would definitely pick it up.

Would we buy the book based on its cover? Yes!

Finding Mr Flood by Ciara Geraghty
Publisher: Hodder Paperbacks
Release Date: 13th October 2011
Rating: 3.5/5
Source: Received from the publishers
Amazon Summary:

Dara Flood always says the most interesting thing about her life happened before she was born. Thirteen days before she came into the world, her father walked up the road and never came back.

Now in her twenties, Dara’s life has a careful routine. She lives in Dublin with her mother and sister Angel. She has pizza with friends every Wednesday, salsa class every Friday, and sees her boyfriend every Saturday. It’s safe and that’s the way she likes it.

Then Angel gets desperately sick and Dara’s ordered life falls apart. Neither she nor her mother is a compatible match for the kidney Angel needs. So Dara sets out to find the father who could be their last hope. But on the path to uncovering the truth about her father, Dara learns that to let life - and love - in, sometimes you just have to let go . . .

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Results Not Typical by Catherine Ryan Howard
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: 1st October 2011
Rating: 4/5
Source: Received from Catherine to review.
Amazon Summary:

Through their Ultimate Weight Loss Diet Solution Zone System, Slimmit International Global Incorporated claim they’re making the world a more attractive place one fatty at a time. Their slogans “Where You’re Fat and We Know It!” and “Where the Fat IS Your Fault!” are recognised around the globe, the counter in the lobby says five million slimmed and their share price is as high as their energy levels. But today the theft of their latest revolutionary product, Lipid Loser, will threaten to expose the real secret behind Slimmit’s success… As Director of Security, hunky Aaron Green is held responsible and threatened with his job. Spying an opportunity to get back into Aaron’s pants, Marianne Brand, head of Slimming Operations, offers to help him track down the intruder – but what she’s really hoping to find is her missing Much, Much More Muffin, a secret prototype she believes the intruder ate. Meanwhile Slimmit CEO Nicola Darcy struggles to stay conscious in the three layers of constricting underwear she needs to hide her new muffin top, while her daughter Emmy – deemed “unacceptably beyond corporate Appearance Policy parameters” – pushes paper in Slimmit’s basement and dreams of a skinny life, one she hopes her secret membership of Fat Club, Slimmit’s main competitor, will eventually bring her. The race is on to retrieve the Lipid Loser and save Slimmit from total disaster. If their secrets get out, their competitors will put them out of business. If the government finds out, they’ll all go to jail. And if their clients find out… Well, as Slimmit’s Slimming Specialists know all too well, there’s only one thing worse than a hungry, sugar-crazed, carb addict – an angry one. Will the secret behind Slimmit’s success survive the day, or will their long-suffering slimmers finally discover the truth?

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