Wednesday, 30 September 2020

The Secret of You and Me by Melissa Lenhardt Book Review

 Books are powerful tools.

The written word can inform, can educate and can introduce a wealth of knowledge to a person.

And never more so than in this day and age when we try to push the boundaries and expand diversities.

The Secret of You and Me by Melissa Lenhardt is her first women's fiction novel, with Mills & Book no less and it brilliantly showcases a f/f relationship.

We need more LGBTQ books!



Nora hasn’t looked back. Not since she left home, and her broken heart, far behind her. But now tragedy calls her back, where she must finally come face to face with ex-boyfriend Charlie, and best friend Sophie. Only now will she be able to confront her past―and reconcile her future.

Sophie seems to have everything. Married to Charlie, with a wonderful daughter and a successful career. Yet underneath that perfection lies an explosive secret. A secret that ripped through their town and destroyed her friendship with Nora. So when Sophie finds out that Nora has returned, she hopes Nora’s stay is short. The life she has built depends on it.

But first love doesn’t fade easily. Memories come to light, passion ignites and old feelings resurface. As the forces that once tore them apart begin to re-emerge, both Nora and Sophie must accept that true love is something worth fighting for.

This is a story of friendship, family and fueds.

Monday, 28 September 2020

Read With Me 2020 #39

 Hey there lovely people

Welcome to this weeks Read With Me (for which I am on time for this week).


How are you all?

Despite being stuck in, I'm feeling pretty good. 

Sunday, 27 September 2020

The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart Blog Tour

 I am a huge fan of fantasy novels, even more so when they come recommended by one of my favourite authors (Sarah J. Maas).

The Bone Shard Daughter is an epic debut from author Andrea Stewart. The first in what I hope will be a truly great series, we become surrounded by an empire controlled by bone shard magic.



The emperor's reign has lasted for decades, his mastery of bone shard magic powering the animal-like constructs that maintain law and order. But now his rule is failing, and revolution is sweeping across the Empire's many islands.

Lin is the emperor's daughter and spends her days trapped in a palace of locked doors and dark secrets. When her father refuses to recognise her as heir to the throne, she vows to prove her worth by mastering the forbidden art of bone shard magic.

Yet such power carries a great cost, and when the revolution reaches the gates of the palace, Lin must decide how far she is willing to go to claim her birthright - and save her people.

My first thoughts after seeing who recommended this book were that I knew I would find myself addicted to whatever was within the pages and I wasn't wrong. And by the end I was sure that this would be my favourite fantasy of 2020.

This is the first part in The Drowning Empire trilogy.

My Sunday Photo 2020 #39

 


Monday, 21 September 2020

Read With Me 2020 #38

 Hey there lovely readers.

Welcome to this weeks Read With Me.


I apologise for my tardiness again in getting the linky up.

Unfortunately I'm at home in isolation as there is a possibility that I could have contracted covid from another person (I am bored already). This has put me out of routine though and blogging completely slipped my mind.

But here we are.

Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier Blog Tour

 As I've got older my reading tastes have changed, evolved, perhaps even matured a little.

I've branched out, tried different genres, various authors (rather than sticking to the ones I know and love) and this has definitely been a good thing.

One book that has stuck out for me this year is Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier and I was lucky enough to be given the chance to join the blog tour for this quirky and unexpected novel. Keep reading for just a few of my thoughts on this story.


Eighteen years old, pregnant, and working as a pizza delivery girl in suburban Los Angeles, our charmingly dysfunctional heroine is deeply lost and in complete denial about it all. She's grieving the death of her father (who she has more in common with than she'd like to admit), avoiding her supportive mom and loving boyfriend, and flagrantly ignoring her future.

Her world is further upended when she becomes obsessed with Jenny, a stay-at-home mother new to the neighborhood, who comes to depend on weekly deliveries of pickled covered pizzas for her son's happiness. As one woman looks toward motherhood and the other towards middle age, the relationship between the two begins to blur in strange, complicated, and ultimately heartbreaking ways.

The premise

Pizza Girl on the surface is a tale about an eighteen year old pregnant girl, who is still dealing with the loss of her father, and she's trying her best to simply get through each day.

Wednesday, 16 September 2020

Books to Read Right Now

 I talk frequently about the books I am lucky enough to be gifted via Netgalley.

If you haven't heard of this site before and you are a lover of books, where have you been? Only joking. This is a place where you can request advanced digital copies of new books for free in exchange for your honest reviews.

No catches, it is that simple.

Perfect for book worms like me who like to read an abundance of novels as this keeps the husband from moaning at the my expenditures on the written word.

Last month I had a bit of a reading spree, trying to empty my Netgalley shelf. 

Now regular Netgalley users will tell you just how hard it is to achieve this because it's an effort to not keep requesting books that you fancy.

I regularly share the reviews I write on both Goodreads and Amazon but I thought it might be worth while sharing my recommendations via this little space on the web too.

So keep on reading for five brilliant books that you might still be able to request, pre-order or perhaps even buy if you like to have that physical copy in your hands:


The End of Men by Christina Sweeney-Baird

Monday, 14 September 2020

Read With Me 2020 #37

 Hello

Welcome to this weeks Read With Me.

Thanks as always for the effort made by all of you to link up and comment. You keep my TBR list long.


After reading all of the books on my Netgalley shelf a couple of weeks ago I have already added four more back on there (two which are Christmas themed).

I just can't resist a good story!

Thursday, 10 September 2020

Beyond the Secret Garden - The Life of Frances Hodgson Burnett by Ann Thwaite

 I think we always remember that one book that really captured our imagination and gave us that love of reading.

For me, when I was little the story that really caught my attention was The Secret Garden. After reading the book, I then proceeded to listen to it on tape (yes I am that old) over and over again.

It is a tale that I still recommend to this day.

So you can imagine how I felt when I got the chance to read Beyond the Secret Garden, The Life of Frances Hodgson Burnett. I've always been rather fascinated with what authors of these classic books are like, what enables them to conjure up such beautiful stories.


Most people have heard of Little Lord Fauntleroy, and of The Secret Garden. Yet few people realize that the same woman wrote both books, 25 years apart, and was considered, along with Henry James, one of the leading writers in America on the strength of the adult novels which made her name in the 1870s and 1880s. Frances Hodgson Burnett's favourite theme in fiction was the reversal of fortune, and she herself knew extremes of poverty and wealth. Born in Manchester in 1849, she emigrated with her family to Tennessee at the close of the Civil War. On the surface, her life was extremely successful. She played the roles of Famous Writer and Fairy Godmother with enthusiasm, but happiness eluded her. She was always waiting for the party, but it went on in other rooms.

A well written book

Monday, 7 September 2020

Read With Me 2020 #36

 Hey there lovely people.

Welcome to this weeks Read With Me linky.


It's a quick one from me this week as I get back into the swing of working again.

I did however managed to read all the books on my Netgalley shelf before I went back to work. Even though I have already added three more books to my shelf again.

Thursday, 3 September 2020

Our Story by Miranda Dickinson Blog Tour

 A lot of love stories in the past have followed the same premise - boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love oh and I guess they live happily ever after. Now I'm not complaining, I'm a sucker for a good romance but I do like when these stories have a little bit more about them, some substance, just something a bit more realistic.

And that is exactly what I think Miranda Dickinson offers with her latest novel, Our Story.

Add caption


Otty has just landed her dream job. She's about to join the writing team of one of the most respected showrunners in TV. And then the night before her first day, she's evicted from her flat.

Joe has been working with Russell for years. He's the best writer on his team, but lately something has been off. He's trying to get his mojo back, but when his flatmate moves out without warning he has other things to worry about.

Otty moving into Joe's house seems like the most obvious solution to both their problems, but neither is prepared for what happens next. Paired together in the writing room, their obvious chemistry sparks from the page and they are the writing duo to beat. But their relationship off the page is an entirely different story, and neither of them can figure out why.

And suddenly the question isn't, will they, or won't they? It's why won't they?

A modern love story