Meet Katie: she’s about to marry the most wonderful man in the world. The planning is done, the checklist is checked. The future is set.

Having spent her twenties and thirties enjoying life with good friends, and building a career she loves, it’s taken Katie until her forties to contemplate settling down. And she couldn’t be more delighted she waited.

So, why is her perfect groom standing gawping at her, wearing mismatched socks and sweating buckets? This can’t bode well.

With her special day in tatters, Katie has a decision to make. Does she snatch back the reigns of her old life, and tighten her grip even more? Or should she take a chance on change? Will she find the key to happiness at a Pilates class in a smelly old hall? Or is the curveball heading her way too huge to handle?

If you like British humor and a flawed protagonist on an emotional journey, you’ll enjoy reading Amanda Paull’s latest novel, Colouring Outside the Lines – a heart-warming tale of shattered dreams, self-discovery, and finding true love where you least expect it.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

‘I wish I’d had a cute brother. Our Simon gave my Barbie a crew cut and pinched the wheels off her car.’ She struggled to imagine him ever looking cute, even when he was young. He’d always had a face she felt like slapping. Or perhaps that was only because he’d been such a rubbish big brother. The image of her empty piggy bank flashed across her mind, and she had an urge to slap his grown-up face.

Katie stood in the doorway and gave a loud cough. Her parents both shot around, their expressions frozen in horror. They looked like a terrible photograph, snapped in the night following a rude awakening from a bright torch. The comedic aspect of this scene took the edge off Katie’s growing anxiety, and she had to bite the inside of her cheek not to laugh.

My Review:

I adore Amanda Paull, her unique tales and peculiar casts of players tickle my funny bone in the most merciless manner. She specializes in creating outlandishly obnoxious, selfish, and amusingly hideous family members and characters that are on the edge of vile, yet I have never failed to remain invested and engaged in their tales – if only to see that the one semi-normal family member comes out alive at the end. The humorous storylines annoyed, entertained, and kept me guessing. I wanted to give the main character numerous pinches as well as a few hugs before I reached the end, at least she did apologize for being “a bit deranged.” I am still smirking an hour after finishing and eager to see what Ms. Paull’s magical pen conjures up next.

But, in just one day, everything changes.

In just one day, Flora’s life falls apart.

In just one day, Flora has to learn how to live again.

From the nostalgia of seaside Britain to the breath-taking beauty of Venice, in tears and laughter, join Helen McGinn for this emotional, uplifting and joyful story about love in all its guises. But above all, this is an unforgettable story of one little girl and the brother she adores.

My Rating:

Favorite Quote:

‘I’d rather have Pete than not and, I don’t know, maybe it won’t last forever but I love him, and if that means trusting him when he’s face to face with much bigger tits than mine then that’s what I have to do’… Tilda looked over at Pete. ‘I think it’s time I went and retrieved him.’ She rolled her eyes at Susie. ‘What is it about boys and boobs?’

My Review:

This was my introduction to the stellar word skills of Helen McGinn, and what could be better than finding the main character was a wine specialist as I specialize in drinking it. Her poignant and agile storytelling hit all the feels with humor and profound insight and somehow miraculously maintained a well-honed balance in emotional tone while raising serious family issues and intense grief without being overly dreary. I sank right into the thoughtfully crafted storylines and was ardently and empathetically present with her enticing characters as if I were sharing their air. Helen McGinn has mad skills and a new fangirl.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Why can’t a woman operate outside the kitchen? Why can’t a wife work? She thought that when the war ended, the fighting would be over, but it seems that for her, and so many women like her, it’s only just starting… peace hasn’t turned out to be quite as simple as she’d hoped.

They were all set for me to go home and swan around with Mother, waiting for the season to start so I could put on a ridiculous extravagance of a white dress and catch myself a husband. Their main ambition was for me to get someone “with all their limbs”.

I sometimes think that so many of us gunner girls –and all the other servicewomen and factory workers and land girls –fought harder after the war than we did during it. Society wanted to slot us conveniently back into our kitchen-shaped holes, but we’d grown and we weren’t going to shrink ourselves to fit back inside. ‘It was the same all over Europe. We think of feminism as starting with the bra-burnings in the seventies but, let me tell you, it was the second half of the forties that got things moving.

My Review:

This was dual-timeline and historical fiction done right, and the feminist in me cheered. The storylines were thoughtfully layered and shrewdly paced with family drama, an intriguing mystery, romance, and insightful bits of history while it entertained and hit all the feels.  The overall premise was eye-opening, as silly me, I had not stopped to think about the women of WWII this way.

The book drove home the realization that the post-WWII era was actually the kick-off of women finding their voice and value outside of domesticity on a larger scale across the globe. While the women may not have been all that interested in taking on the vacant jobs and roles of their men at war, they felt differently about themselves for having stepped up and into the fray, yet the returning men and peacetime societies weren’t receptive to women’s efforts to continue moving forward. While the end of the war was a good thing for the world, the war ending had ignited the beginning of women’s personal battles to get out of the kitchen, stay relevant, and hang on to their jobs and self-worth.

Needless to say, this book took me much longer to read as the story threads led me down a rabbit hole of Googling which was ignited by the inspiration of these endearing Ack-Ack characters, with Ack-Ack girls actually being my first inquiry. Anna Stuart was a new name for me when I picked up this book and I now have the deepest respect for her craft and appreciate the lessons learned from her endless hours of research and preparation.

About the Author

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Something was expected of her, something that might change the course of what was transpiring, but whatever it was felt just out of reach, like a word one might search for and though it shimmies around the tongue, it can’t be called up.

His voice is a painful thing in my ear that has settled in the corners of my mind like broke glass. I cannot bear the feel of his words.

She reaches across the table and takes his hand in hers. It’s so big, has always been so big around hers. She squeezes and he lifts his other hand from his lap, places it over hers. She knows now that she had been miraculously caught in the depths of a fall, cushioned by this man with the deepest of hearts.

This was an intensively emotive read that was so perceptively written it was startling. I tumbled right into this itchy, prickly, and heart-squeezing tale and I grew to love these oddly compelling and uniquely crafted personalities. The characters weren’t people I would ordinarily seek out to spend time with yet they become so very knowable to me and I found their story addictive and gripping.

The storylines were cunningly crafted and maddeningly paced with intriguing, painful, and cringe-worthy elements that will stay with me for quite some time. Yet even those uncomfortable events were painted in an uncommonly personable and deeply observant manner and were so very thoughtfully presented that I found an odd wetness seeping from my eyes and hot rocks in my throat as I gasped to catch my breath. I am astounded by the quality and depth achieved by a first-time novelist. Shawn Nocher is definitely one to watch and was quickly added to my list of new favorites.

My Rating:

Favorite Quote:

There are three things you should always keep a secret: your love life, your income, and your next move. Once you lose your mystery, you can’t get it back. As the saying goes, sincerity is glass, discretion is diamond.

My Review:

I continue with my fascination with the intriguing and maddeningly paced storylines culled from the dark recesses of Britney King’s irregularly curved and bendy imagination. I never know where her cunning arrangements of words is going to take me, or who the actual culprit will be in her devious and snark-laden tales, but I have so much fun flinching and cringing while I postulate and toss aside a multitude of wild theories along the way. She excels at the fast-paced itchy tales that keep me on edge and unable to put my beloved Kindle down without a struggle. With her newest release of Passerby, she continues to reign supreme on my thriller hit list where I have given her the designation of High Priestess of Word Voodoo.