5* review: The Little Shop of Happy Ever After by Jenny Colgan

Buy HERE from Amazon.co.uk

Given a back-room computer job when the beloved Birmingham library she works in turns into a downsized retail complex, Nina misses her old role terribly - dealing with people, greeting her regulars, making sure everyone gets the right books for their needs. Then a new business nobody else wants catches her eye: owning a tiny little bookshop bus up in the Scottish highlands. No computers. Shortages. Out all hours in the freezing cold; driving with a tiny stock of books... not to mention how the little community is going to take to her, particularly when she stalls the bus on a level crossing...

I knew I would never find another Jenny Colgan book that I loved more than The Little Beach Street Bakery. I was wrong! I adored the latest offering from Colgan, the warmth, the characters, the humour...the subject (a bookshop - what's not to love?). I simply could not get enough of the wonderful highland setting and Nina's life.

Nina is in my opinion a wonderful character, she's hard working, clever, caring and conscientious - so when she lost her job in the library which is being converted into some new fangled media hub which Nina's regulars would never attend, she was devastated, but knew the job would not have been for her anyway. So she took a leap of faith, her redundancy payment and the stack of books that is threatening the stability of her housemate's property and starts a new life and job in the Scottish Highlands.

What a change!

Being a city girl she first has to adapt to a very small village way of life - and all while feeling like a foreigner! She has a near death experience in her bus which scares her to death but makes her some new friends; Marek, how I loved him and their special tree.

She completely integrates within the community and begins to come out of the bookish shell in which she's hidden herself away most of her life (however we all know there is nothing wrong in living in a bookish shell)

She finds dwellings on a farm with the gruff Lennox and his dog Parsley. The relationship is a strained one due to Lennox's manner, but we eventually learn the reason why he has such tough barriers to break through. I loved Marek. I loved Lennox. 

This plot is so deep and winding I would be here for days if I explained everything I loved about it, but believe me when I say I loved it so very much.

I could not recommend The Little Shop of Happy Ever After more...a true Must Read!

With thanks to the publisher for an ecopy in exchange for an honest review.

Book tour - A Little Sugar, A Lot of Love by Linn B Halton. Extract and Giveaway!

A LITTLE SUGAR, A LOT OF LOVE

 BY LINN B. HALTON

Genre: Chick Lit

Release Date: 15 January 2016

Publisher:  Choc Lit

A Little Sugar, A Lot of Love

Life isn’t all love and cupcakes …

Katie has had her fair share of bad luck, but when she finally realises her dream of opening a bakery it seems things can only get better.

But the reality of running a business hits Katie hard and whilst her partner, Steve, tries to help she begins to sense that the situation is driving them further apart. Could Katie be set to lose her relationship and her dream job?

Then, one winter’s day, a man walks into her shop – and, in the space of that moment, the course of Katie’s life is changed.

But nobody finds happiness in the blink of an eye. Sometimes it takes two Christmases, three birthdays and a whole lot of cake to get there …

Previously released as Sweet Occasions by the author. Revised and edited by Choc Lit December 2015.

BUY LINKS

AMAZON UK

AMAZON US

ABOUT LINN B. HALTON

“I’m a hopeless romantic, self-confessed chocaholic, and lover of coffee. For me, life is about family, friends, and writing. Oh, and the occasional glass of White Grenache…”

An Amazon UK Top 100 best-selling author with A Cottage in the Country in November 2015, Linn’s novels have been short-listed in the UK’s Festival of Romance and the eFestival of Words Book Awards. Linn won the 2013 UK Festival of Romance: Innovation in Romantic Fiction award. Linn writes chick lit, women’s contemporary fiction and psychic romance for Choc Lit, Harper Impulse and Endeavour Press.

Website/blog: http://linnbhalton.co.uk/


Twitter: @LinnBHalton FB: Linn B Halton Author


Amazon: http://smarturl.it/LittleSugarLotOfLove

Contest Open Internationally – No Purchase necessary

1^st Prize - £25 Amazon Voucher

2^nd Prize – Cupcake themed Swag Bag

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5*Review: The Queen's Choice by Anne O'Brien and GIVEAWAY!

Available here at Amazon.co.uk

Her children or her crown

France, 1399: The Duke of Brittany is dead and his widow, Joanna of Navarre, has inherited control of their land – a testament to her intellect, integrity and political prowess.

Then comes an unprecedented proposal from Henry IV, King of England. The price of becoming his Queen? Abandoning her homeland, leaving her children and sacrificing her independence.

Henry's hold on the crown is unsteady and war is brewing. With the constant threat of rebellion, Henry will trust no-one – not even his new Queen. Crossing the channel is a dangerous prospect. But the union between Joanna and Henry would bring the chance of a vital alliance between two proud states – if they will allow it.

One question. Two paths. A choice that will make history.

It is 1936 and Richard II, King of England's wedding day to the very young Isabella of Valois. John IV, Duke of Brittany and his wife Joanna are there. Whilst mingling with the crowd they happen upon Henry Bolingbroke, Earl of Derby and the current King's cousin with whom there is no love lost. Even though Joanna and John have a pleasant and companionable marriage, like the wedding taking place - she was an extremely young bride and there is a sizeable age difference between the couple, when she meets Henry a part of her awakens and she suddenly has feelings for him that she's never felt for a man before. 

She tries to put him and her feelings out of her mind and does not meet Henry again for another two years when he is accused of treason and bursts into their home in Brittany after being banished from England. The feelings she first developed come flooding back.

Henry later returns to England to launch an attack on Richard II, deposing him of his crown and becoming Henry IV, King of England. The Duke of Brittany has died with Joanna widowed and in control of her own lands. After what he deems a suitable period of time Henry sends a marriage proposal to Joanna who wants to accept but is warned that if she does she will lose everything: her land, her power, her fortune and her children. 

She makes the seemingly impossible decision and chooses the path of love and Henry, yet marriage and true love does not run smoothly and tensions quickly rise. Henry is filled with insecurities, and Joanna is a powerful and independent woman but untrusted as a French princess in the times when the relationship between England and France was not a happy one, a political gamble that they were trusting the unity would ease. It really highlights all the perils of the middle ages, and how different marriage was back then. 

I really enjoyed this offering from O'Brien. I have a keen interest in this period of time and I found the book historically accurate as well as being a beautifully written romance, focusing on the seldom heard of Joanna of Navarre. Living just around the corner from Bolingroke Castle also brought the book home to me.

This really is a must read for fans of historical fiction and a perfect tale to curl up and escape with.

I have a signed copy of The Queen's Choice up for grabs - Just leave a comment below to be entered into the draw! UK only please - winner will be chosen at random at 6pm 21st January 2016...

Many thanks to Sophie at ED PR for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: A Parcel for Anna Browne by Miranda Dickinson

Available here from Amazon.co.uk

Anna Browne is an ordinary woman living an ordinary life. Her day job as a receptionist in bustling London isn't exactly her dream, yet she has everything she wants. But someone thinks Anna Browne deserves more . . .

When a parcel addressed to Anna Browne arrives, she has no idea who has sent it. Inside she finds a beautiful gift - one that is designed to be seen. And so begins a series of incredible deliveries, each one bringing Anna further out of the shadows and encouraging her to become the woman she was destined to be. As Anna grows in confidence, others begin to notice her - and her life starts to change.

But who is sending the mysterious gifts, and why?

Anna Browne is a quietly unassuming character working on reception at a Fleet Street newspaper, everyone's friend and to be perfectly honest, quite dull - but she likes it that way. She's gone from living in Cornwall with her frankly AWFUL drunken mother who did nothing but make a spectacle of Anna throughout her childhood, and she just wants some normality.

Then the mysterious parcels start arriving and Anna becomes the centre of attention; just what she didn't need.

The parcels really are something special however, each one perfectly wrapped with the most heartfelt and beautiful gift inside, the only thing that frustrated Anna was not knowing who her kind benefactor was. I did have my suspicions early on who was bestowing these beautiful items on Anna, and I was right as revealed at the ending. It was all very poignant and sweet and left me feeling very satisfied with the story.

The thing with Miranda Dickinson, is she has a natural talent of telling a beautifully engaging and rich story, the likes of which can be compared to classics in terms of their captivating nature. I am a huge fan of her books!

I adored watching Anna's character grow in strength and find the courage to come out of her timid shell, and the supporting characters were all fabulous too.

Well worth a read or to buy as a gift for a loved one, just make sure to wrap it well! 

(Miranda has also included tips from a master on how to wrap the perfect gift at the back of the book...)

Review copy provided via Netgalley in exchanged for an honest review.