Book Review, Giveaway: Moonlight on the Thames by Lauren Westwood

Moonlight on the Thames

by Lauren Westwood

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA  /

B&N / Kobo / iBooks / Google

 

Worlds collide when two strangers meet at Waterloo station. It’s a moment they’ll never forget. Perfect for the fans of Milly Johnson. 

Christmas is a joyous time, but not everyone is merry and bright.

Nicola is a rising star at the top of the corporate ladder, but her personal life is a disaster. Her office affair has lost its allure, and the last thing she wants to think about is Christmas. A night of canceled trains and festive Christmas carols at Waterloo Station is just about the last straw…

Dmitri loves conducting his pop-up choir during the festive season, meeting people, and spreading joy and cheer around London. But he carries deep secrets from his past that robbed him of his dream to become a concert pianist. 

Can their hearts and souls be unlocked by music and moonlight and will they discover the healing power of love?

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Jules had what many people would consider the perfect life: a perfect husband, a perfect house and three perfect children – and therefore took it upon herself to appear busy and stressed at all times.

 

Her penguin jumper had a white pompom stuck on the back – the penguin’s tail. Not that real penguins had tails like that. The jumper was probably made in some sweatshop in Bangladesh by women chained to sewing machines who’d never even seen a proper picture of a penguin, let alone a real one.

 

When she caught sight of him, he could tell from her face that he must look like an old shoe that had been chewed by a dog and spat out again. Which was better than he felt.

 

For a brief moment, her life had been shaken up like a snow globe and filled with magic.

 

… it was as if she was experiencing the world for the first time. The colours looked brighter; the people were people, not simply obstacles to be avoided on public transport.

 

Chrissie put her hands on her hips. Even the appliqué reindeer on her Christmas jumper seemed to look annoyed.

 

My Review:

 

This was an angsty holiday tale, fraught with tragic histories, regrets, guilt, anxieties, personal pain, and tension. Both main characters were heavily marked with scars, although where Nicola’s were internal, Dmitri’s were equally distributed inside and out with PTSD. I held my breath they would not damage each other further as Dmitri was so fragile and Nicola so full of anger and hostility, she was difficult for me to care for initially as she was so cold, selfish, and basically abhorrent. Both characters were fascinatingly complex, deeply damaged, and brilliantly crafted.   And the music – oh my heart, I’ll never be able to listen to Chopin or Rachmaninov again without remembering this heartrending tale. Ms. Westwood certainly made me earn that hard-won, well deserved, and highly desired HEA, but it was well worth the effort.

In addition to the new additions to my Brit Word List of bursary (scholarship) and chivvy (hurry along); I have learned a new manner of drinking tea as Dmitri enjoyed his strong black tea with one spoonful of strawberry jam, I’d never heard of that before. I’m going to have some while I listen to Chopin’s Nocturnes one more time.

Author Bio

 Lauren Westwood writes romantic women’s fiction and is also an award-winning children’s writer. Originally from California, she now lives in England in a pernickety old house built in 1602, with her partner and three daughters. facebook: @Lwestwoodbooks; twitter: @lwestwoodwriter; web: www.laurenwestwoodwriter.com; Instagram: @lwestwoodwriter; Goodreads: Lauren Westwood

Social Media Links –

facebook: @Lwestwoodbooks;

twitter: @lwestwoodwriter;

web: www.laurenwestwoodwriter.com;

instagram: @lwestwoodwriter;

Goodreads: Lauren Westwood;

Booktrail: https://www.thebooktrail.com/book-trails/moonlight-on-the-thames/ (this is a third-party site).

Playlist (music plays a big part in the book): http://www.laurenwestwoodwriter.com/playlist

Giveaway

Win 2 x Signed copies of Moonlight On The Thames

(UK Only)

*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will be passed to the giveaway organizer and used only for the fulfillment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data.  I am not responsible for dispatch or delivery of the prize.

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Book Review: Christmas at The Chocolate Pot Café by Jessica Redland

Christmas at The Chocolate Pot Café

by Jessica Redland

Amazon US / UK / CA / AU

A few minutes of courage might change your life…

Emotionally, Tara Porter finds the festive period a challenge. Christmas Day is a reminder of the family she lost, and New Year’s Eve holds bitter memories of the biggest mistake of her life: marrying Garth Tewkesbury. Shunning invitations to celebrate, she seeks refuge in her flat with only her giant house bunny, Hercules, for company.

Professionally, though, it’s the best time of year. Tara’s thriving café, The Chocolate Pot, is always packed. With the café hosting a wedding and engagement party, it’s shaping up to be the café’s best Christmas ever.

When former nemesis, Jed Ferguson, threatens the future of The Chocolate Pot, Tara prepares for a fight. The café is everything to her and she’s not going to let anyone or anything jeopardize that.

Tara badly misjudged ex-husband Garth and, since then, has refused to let anyone in. After all, if you don’t let them in, they can’t hurt you. But has she misjudged Jed too? Is it possible that he’s not the arrogant, deceitful man from whom she bought the café 14 years earlier? Can she find the courage to find out for sure?

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Nobody had ever kissed my hand before. I felt like a heroine in an Austen novel, being wooed by an English gent. I had to fight hard not to giggle childishly or say anything stupid.

 I’ll admit that there’s a teeny weeny fragment of sympathy for him, but Joyce seems to think the sun shines out of his arse, whereas I just think he is an arse.

I think I may have had an attack of the verbals…

 

My Review:

 

Tara was an enigmatic cross between Pollyanna, a “spiky” cynic, and a secretly prolific crafter and hygge enthusiast. She had limited her life space to her business, her giant house bunny, and her clandestine crafting. Her story tugged and squeezed my heart and I adored her, as I have every quirkily flawed character this talented author has introduced me to with this addictive and entertaining series. Each story in this lively and insightfully written series has been delightfully and lusciously detailed with poignant and original storylines and unique challenges for the lovable yet besieged characters to conquer. This story held several added layers of maddeningly paced intrigue that continually poked and prickled my curiosity. I seem destined to read Ms. Redland’s work out of order, yet it makes no nevermind as while her tales are interconnected, they all have strong legs and are quite capable of standing alone, but what is the fun in that?   Collect and read them all, and be a better person for it. I have unearthed a fun new addition to my Brit Word list with muggins, which Mr. Google defined as “a foolish and gullible person (often used humorously to refer to oneself).”

 

Author Bio 

Jessica had never considered writing as a career until a former manager kept telling her that her business reports read more like stories and she should write a book. She loved writing but had no plot ideas. Then something happened to her that prompted the premise for her debut novel, Searching for Steven. She put fingers to keyboard and soon realized she had a trilogy and a novella.

She lives on the stunning North Yorkshire Coast — the inspiration for the settings in her books — with her husband, daughter, cat, Sprocker Spaniel, and an ever-growing collection of collectible teddy bears. Although if the dog has her way, the collection will be reduced to a pile of stuffing and chewed limbs!

Her passion for North Yorkshire is shared by fellow-writer and great friend, Sharon Booth and, together, they are the Yorkshire Rose Writers.

Jessica tries to balance her time — often unsuccessfully — between being an HR tutor, trying to re-learn how to play the piano, studying towards a Masters in Creative Writing, and writing itself. Who needs sleep?

Social Media Links –

Twitter: @JessicaRedland

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JessicaRedlandWriter/

Website and blog: www.jessicaredland.com

 

Book Review: Until the Next Time (Give Me Shelter #2) by Josie Kerr

Until the Next Time

(Give Me Shelter #2)

by Josie Kerr

Amazon US / UK / CA / AU  / B&N

Meghan Sullivan doesn’t have time for distractions, especially one like handsome veteran Jason Richards. She needs to concentrate on saving Foley’s Public House, and that means focusing all her energy on preparing for a huge local event that could make or break the struggling pub.

Jason Richards has a long history with Meghan. The two had been friends with benefits until Meghan put an end to things when her father got ill. Now Jason spends his time with his brothers, both blood and military, but wonders what would have happened if he’d gotten his act together earlier.

When outside forces conspire against Meghan, she reluctantly turns to Jason for help. The two vow to keep things professional, but serious chemistry and years of bottled up emotions make it impossible for them to keep their distance. When the actions against Meghan turn personal, Jason will do everything in his power to keep her safe.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Jason and Meghan had the most complicated uncomplicated non-relationship he’d ever been involved in, because when it came right down to it, he didn’t do relationships.

 

He hadn’t seen Chelsea in months, not since she’d gone to California to try her hand at getting a real modeling job, as opposed to just posing and making duck faces in the mirror for people on the internet… Her showing up with a bottle of champagne in each hand foretold of either a huge break or a giant breakdown…

 

I have to go see a woman about converting a detached garage into a ‘she shed’ … It’s like a man cave but girly. I predict a Pinterest nightmare, but the lady’s paying me.

 

“Pierce used to be a bouncer at Foley’s. He’s a sweetheart.” “A sweetheart that is capable of pulling my arms off and bludgeoning me with them. Jesus.” “Oh, he doesn’t do that stuff anymore… Usually.”

 

My Review:

 

This bickering couple generated enough sensual heat to set off fire sprinklers. Holy singed ceiling tiles! I enjoyed this couple. Meghan and Jason started off as friends with benefits, but despite her general crankiness and someone trying to ruin her business and end her life above ground, they developed into a much more profound, supportive, and satisfying level of squabbling and began relating to each other beyond the slap and tickle. The engaging storylines were well-crafted and populated with a large cast of interesting and oddly enticing characters. The narrative was well balanced between humor, steam, and a variety of stressors and tense situations and was also active and highly eventful with lashings of intrigue. I am eager to see what Ms. Kerr does with the rest of this group of quirky friends.


Josie Kerr   

Website

Twitter  authorjosiekerr

Goodreads

Josie Kerr is a transplanted West Texan living on the edge of semi-profoundly rural Georgia, a.k.a. the southernmost edge of the northernmost county in Metro Atlanta.

She has an M.Ed. in Secondary English Education but discovered that she hated high school more the second time than she did the first, so she decided to meld her love of technology with her education background and became an Instructional Designer. When not writing articles about how to fire someone without getting sued or why you should really not apply for jobs using your SexxyStud99@aol.com email address, she writes steamy romance novels that feature grown-up Heroes and Heroines.

 

Book Review: For Better and Worse by Margot Hunt

 For Better and Worse

by Margot Hunt

Amazon | B-A-M | B&N

Paperback: 336 Pages

Publisher: MIRA; Original edition (December 11, 2018)

On their first date back in law school, Natalie and Will Clarke bonded over drinks, dinner and whether they could get away with murder. Now married, they’ll put the latter to the test when an unchecked danger in their community places their son in jeopardy. Working as a criminal defense attorney, Nat refuses to rely on the broken legal system to keep her family safe. She knows that if you want justice…you have to get it yourself.

Shocked to discover Nat’s taken matters into her own hands, Will has no choice but to dirty his, also. His family is in way too deep to back down now. He’s just not sure he recognizes the woman he married. Nat’s always been fiercely protective, but never this ruthless or calculating. With the police poking holes in their airtight plan, what will be the first to fall apart: their scandalous secret—or their marriage?

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

She was a delicious, fizzing secret that had transformed my boring, colorless life into something exciting.

 

He was an affable guy in his late forties, with the sort of annoyingly boyish good looks that women always went for. My main impression of him, after being law partners for a number of years, was that while he led a charmed life, he was about as deep as a puddle. He had a pretty, vapid wife and a couple of good-looking, vapid children who all excelled at sports.

 

He lifted the corners of his mouth up in a sly smile. He suddenly, vividly reminded me of the crocodile exhibit at the Palm Beach Zoo.

 

When I was a kid, my dad used to tell me, ‘Some people just need killing.’ I always thought that he was being overly harsh. After all, my dad also made me go to Sunday school, where they talked about turning the other cheek and forgiving your neighbor. But if you live the life I’ve lived, seen the things I’ve seen…” He shrugged, as if trying to push away a whole history of bad memories. “I can’t say that my father was wrong.”

 

She thought that sometimes she loved Will, and sometimes she hated him. Sometimes she couldn’t tell the difference between the two.

 

My Review:

 

Margot Hunt has mastered the art of building and maintaining tension and suspense in her artful and brilliant arrangements of words. This wasn’t a thriller or a “who done it” murder mystery as we witness the murder being committed and I will confess, I even wanted to help and felt a bit complicit. I was taut with tension, nibbling on my cuticles, and largely unsettled while reading Ms. Hunt’s compelling and well-crafted storylines. If ever there were a case for justifiable homicide, this would fit most anyone’s criteria. The premise was ingenious; the writing was superb and maddeningly paced; the characters were intriguingly nuanced, and the ending left me smirking.   Sequel, Ms. Hunt?

 

About Margot Hunt

Margot Hunt is the pseudonym of a bestselling writer of twelve previous novels. Her work has been praised by Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist and Kirkus Reviews. BEST FRIENDS FOREVER is her first psychological thriller.

Connect with Margot

Website | Facebook | Twitter

 

Book Review, Giveaway: The Christmas Spirit by Susan Buchanan

The Christmas Spirit

by Susan Buchanan

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA

Christmas is coming, but not everyone is looking forward to it.


Rebecca has just been dumped and the prospect of spending the holiday period with her parents is less than appealing.


Eighty-two-year-old Stanley lost his beloved wife, Edie, to cancer. How will he cope with his first Christmas without her?


Jacob’s university degree hasn’t helped him get a job, and it looks like he’ll still be signing on come New Year.


Workaholic Meredith would rather spend December 25th at home alone with a ready meal and a DVD box set. Can anything make her embrace the spirit of the season?


The enigmatic Natalie Hope takes over the reins at the Sugar and Spice bakery and café in an attempt to spread some festive cheer and restore Christmas spirit, but will she succeed?

 

My Rating:

My Review:

 

I initially was uncertain if the main character of Natalie was human, and if not, what type of supernatural being she might be.   I’m still not entirely sure, but she certainly had magic, as does this creative and talented wordsmith. Susan Buchanan has gifted us with a sweet, lushly detailed, and insightfully emotive tale of common complications and foibles with a large cast of mostly likable and endearing characters or all ages.   Each character was struggling with various significantly vexing life events during a bone-chilling holiday season in Scotland. A full grab-bag of issues was confounding the previously unrelated group with each one facing life-altering events of turmoil and stress, whether financial, personal, familial, and/or career-wise. Little did they know that help had been covertly deployed with a secret plan already in operation. I enjoyed this tender, warm, and entertaining tale and was pleased with the interesting new addition to my British Word list with po-faced, which Mr. Google indicated was priggish, humorless, or critical. A look that I am well familiar with and, which apparently, was my destiny to incite from most of my relatives and teachers.   😉

Author Bio 

 Susan Buchanan lives in Scotland with her husband and their two children. She is the author of four novels: Return of the Christmas Spirit, The Christmas Spirit, The Dating Game, and Sign of the Times. She is currently working on books five and six: The Proposal and Just One Day.


Susan is also a proofreader, editor, and translator, and when not working, writing, or caring for her two delightful cherubs, loves reading, the theatre, quiz shows and eating out – not necessarily in that order!

Social Media Links

Facebook – www.facebook.com/susan.buchanan.author

Twitter – susan_buchanan

Blog – Sooz’s journal – www.susancbuchanan.blogspot.co.uk

Giveaway

Win e-copies of Sign of the Times and The Dating Game (Open Internationally)

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will be passed to the giveaway organizer and used only for the fulfillment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data.  I am not responsible for dispatch or delivery of the prize.

 

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Book Review: Deck the Halles by Stephanie Dagg


Deck the Halles

by Stephanie Dagg

Amazon US / UK AU / Universal

It’s next Christmas at the little French llama farm.

Last Christmas infamous Australian author Nick bought the farm, that was meant to be furnished and without llamas. The reverse proved to be the case. Noelle had been sent to pet sit the llamas until his arrival. After a decidedly frosty start, Nick and Noelle’s relationship warmed up rapidly and they’re now happily living together, with an ever-growing assortment of animals.

They’re looking forward to a quiet, romantic Christmas together but at the last moment, Noelle is called on to find a venue for the annual national llama show. The local agricultural halles are free so she books them, thinking that’s all she’ll have to do to help. She couldn’t be more wrong! On top of that, various relatives start turning up on her doorstep unexpectedly, as the result of assorted crises. The farmhouse is about to burst at the seams. Add in a few other events, such as playing the part of a pixie at a Christmas fête, organizing Nick’s book launch and training a non-cooperative llama for the agility class in the show, and Noelle is pushed ever closer to the end of her tether. Can she hold it together and stay as calm as a llama? Or will she be the next member of her family to make a bolt for pastures new?      

This festive, feel-good and fun novel is the sequel to ‘Fa-La-Llama-La: Christmas at the Little French Llama Farm’ but can be read as a standalone.  

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

There were just two very elderly women in the café with us, both of whom looked totally terrifying with their heavy makeup and over-coiffed, thin hair. Each clutched a quivering toy dog of the same remarkably ugly breed. But fair dos to them, they weren’t growing old gracefully. There were fighting it, crowned tooth and lacquered nail.

 

The word ‘mademoiselle’ may have been banned from all official documents in 2012, but here in rural France any woman who appeared too young or too ugly to be married was automatically one. I hoped I came into the former category.

 

… so when the dust has settled in a day or so, why not reopen negotiations and say something like you appreciate the financial help they want to give you, but you’d rather they put some money into a trust fund for Charlie so that when he’s eighteen, he can use the money to pay for university, or set up a hamster sanctuary, or a betting shop, or finance a Guinness World Record attempt to hop round the world backwards, or whatever else he wants to do.

 

The dog had a rakish, attractive air about him with his wiry grey hair at all angles. He was the size of a spaniel but that was as far as the resemblance went. He was 100% mongrel, possibly a badger crossed with a toilet brush, plus a dollop of genetic input from a hay bale.

 

My Review:

 

I have thoroughly enjoyed Stephanie Dagg’s French Llama series as well as her delightfully crisp, cleverly amusing and unique writing style. Her characters throughout both books were endearingly quirky and knowable, while her prose was agile and engaging and conjured vivid and comical visuals with her vibrant and clever word choices. The storylines were lively, engaging, and observantly detailed and laced with nimble wit and cunning levity.

This was my third time picking up one of her books and I daresay she has collected a rabid fangirl to add to her menagerie of exotic pets.   And an added bonus for me was picking up a trio of fun new words and phrases for my Brit Word List with sarnies – sandwiches, get some kip – sleep, and my favorite with send away with a flea in their ear – angrily banish and forbid to return.

 

Author Bio 

I’m an English expat living in France, having moved here with my family in 2006 after fourteen years as an expat in Ireland. I now consider myself a European rather than ‘belonging’ to any particular country. The last ten years have been interesting, to put it mildly. Taking on seventy-five acres with three lakes, two hovels and one cathedral-sized barn, not to mention an ever-increasing menagerie, makes for exciting times. The current array of animals includes alpacas, llamas, huarizos (alpaca-llama crossbreds, unintended in our case and all of them thanks to one very determined alpaca male), sheep, goats, pigs, ducks, geese, chickens and turkeys, not forgetting our pets of dogs, cats, zebra finches, budgies , canaries, lovebirds and Chinese quail. Before we came to France all we had was a dog and two chickens, so it’s been a steep learning curve. I recount these experiences in my book Heads Above Water: Staying Afloat in France and the sequel to that, Total Immersion: Ten Years in France. I also blog regularly at www.bloginfrance.com.

I’m married to Chris and we have three bilingual TCKs (third culture kids) who are resilient and resourceful and generally wonderful.     

I’m a traditionally-published author of many children’s books and am now self-publishing too. I have worked part-time as a freelance editor for thirty years after starting out as a desk editor for Hodder & Stoughton. Find me at www.editing.zone. The rest of the time I’m running carp fishing lakes with Chris and inevitably cleaning up some or other animal’s poop.   

 

Social Media Links –

@llamamum

www.facebook.com/StephanieDaggBooks/

www.bloginfrance.com

Book Review: Fa-La-Llama-La: Christmas at the Little French Llama Farm by Stephanie Dagg

Fa-La-Llama-La: Christmas at the Little French Llama Farm 

by Stephanie Dagg

Amazon US / UK / AU CA

It’s very nearly Christmas and, temporarily jobless and homeless, Noelle is back at home with her parents. However, a phone call from her cousin Joe, who runs a house-and-pet-sitting service, saves her from a festive season of Whist, boredom and overindulging.
So Noelle is off to France to mind a dozen South American mammals. She arrives amidst a blizzard and quickly discovers that something is definitely wrong at the farm. The animals are there all right, but pretty much nothing else – no power, no furniture and, disastrously, no fee. Add to that a short-tempered intruder in the middle of the night, a premature delivery, long-lost relatives and participation in a living crèche, and this is shaping up to be a noel that Noelle will never forget.
Fa-La-Llama-La is a feel-good, festive and fun rom-com with a resourceful heroine, a hero who’s a bit of a handful and some right woolly charmers. 
.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

I took my mind off my annoyance with Nick and the physical effort of the journey by singing Christmas carols to myself, changing the words of some of them to make them more apt. The chorus of ‘Deck The Halls’ became “Fa-la-llama-la, la-llama-la,” and the first verse of ‘We Three Kings’ became “We three Kings of Les Veragnes are / Taking your furniture off in our car / Leaving you llamas and plenty of dramas / We’ll be spending your cash in a bar.” I was quite proud of those but opted not to share with my humourless companion…

 

A dozen or so children in various disguises bustled in and sat down in the front two pews. They took turns to come up and perform their role. We had Joseph and Mary meeting and getting engaged within two minutes. Mary towered over her beloved but I could see why they’d been paired up. Little Joseph had a voice like a foghorn that rattled the windows, perfect for this largely elderly and probably deaf audience. And Mary was a model in the making. She was willowy and delicate-looking, but she had steely eyes. This was definitely a woman who could give birth in a stable with only a dithering husband to help.

 

Where you get animals, and especially ruminants, you get pee and poop, and lots of it. Holly wasn’t the first to disgrace herself, but she was by far the most flamboyant… Who knew a llama’s bladder and bowels could be that big? … The floodgates were open. Mary and Joseph collapsed into fits of giggles and the audience erupted. And still Holly peed.

 

My Review:

 

I adored this delightfully amusing and cleverly written book from start to finish. I smirked gleefully as I devoured this witty author’s deftly written llama charming escapade in rural France. This breezy tale would tickle the funny bone of the most hardened of Grinches. I am eager to dive into the next in the series with Deck the Halles. And, I scored a treasure trove of additions for my Brit and Aussie word lists with streuth – which Mr. Google and the Urban Dictionary indicated was Aussie slang with various spellings, a mild oath that can be a noun or adjective used for emphasis or express surprise; firkle – to rummage or search; yomp – to march or trek laboriously; and spend a penny – a euphemism meaning to use a toilet.

Author Bio –

I’m an English expat living in France, having moved here with my family in 2006 after fourteen years as an expat in Ireland. I now consider myself a European rather than ‘belonging’ to any particular country. The last ten years have been interesting, to put it mildly. Taking on seventy-five acres with three lakes, two hovels and one cathedral-sized barn, not to mention an ever-increasing menagerie, makes for exciting times. The current array of animals includes alpacas, llamas, huarizos (alpaca-llama crossbreds, unintended in our case and all of them thanks to one very determined alpaca male), sheep, goats, pigs, ducks, geese, chickens and turkeys, not forgetting our pets of dogs, cats, zebra finches, budgies , canaries, lovebirds and Chinese quail. Before we came to France all we had was a dog and two chickens, so it’s been a steep learning curve. I recount these experiences in my book Heads Above Water: Staying Afloat in France and the sequel to that, Total Immersion: Ten Years in France. I also blog regularly at www.bloginfrance.com.

I’m married to Chris and we have three bilingual TCKs (third culture kids) who are resilient and resourceful and generally wonderful.     

I’m a traditionally-published author of many children’s books and am now self-publishing too. I have worked part-time as a freelance editor for thirty years after starting out as a desk editor for Hodder & Stoughton. Find me at www.editing.zone. The rest of the time I’m running carp fishing lakes with Chris and inevitably cleaning up some or other animal’s poop.   

 

Social Media Links –

@llamamum

www.facebook.com/StephanieDaggBooks/

www.bloginfrance.com

Book Review: Tangled Vines by Megan Mayfair

Tangled Vines

by Megan Mayfair

Amazon US / UK / CA / AU

 

Amelia O’Sullivan is a photographer who has always viewed herself through the wrong lens. When her marriage publicly crashes around her, she flees to the safety of her aunt’s country property to pick up the pieces. Can she adjust her focus to what she really wants from her life? 

Born into a wealthy and powerful family, Frederick Doyle may seem like a man who has it all, but behind the scenes, a bitter business feud threatens an irrevocable family split. As he fights for control of the winery he’d built from the ground up, he finds a supportive ally in Amelia and becomes increasingly beguiled by her creative spirit. 

Jill McMahon is a successful novelist suffering from writer’s block over her latest manuscript. Finding her niece, Amelia, at her door, reminds her of the bonds of family, but in seeing Amelia and Frederick’s relationship grow, a long-forgotten and painful secret threatens to re-surface. 

Can Amelia, Frederick and Jill untangle themselves from their pasts or will history simply repeat itself? 

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Alcohol was not a good idea. It only made things worse. The buzzing in her brain seemed to move up an octave when she drank, like a conductor elevating their baton, leading to the crescendo.

 

He seemed to suffer a Peter Pan complex and have inherited those enviable athletic Doyle genes. Despite his lean yet muscular build, it was likely he still ate like a teenager whose parents had gone away for the weekend.

 

“And do you read what your aunt writes, Amelia?” Frederick tilted his head towards Amelia, a waggish glint in his eyes, an arched eyebrow cocked at her. “The first time I did, I don’t think I could look her straight in the eye for a week. It was pure smut.”

 

It was far too soon for any sort of relationship for Amelia, but if she were to have a little rebound fling, Frederick was a good choice. Remind her that there were other fish in the sea. And when the fish were as handsome as Frederick, it certainly made Toby look like carp.

 

My Review:

 

I quickly added this bright and shiny author to my watch list after reading her delightful and highly impressive debut a few months ago with The Things We Leave Unsaid. I seemed to have made an excellent call or maybe even a psychic prediction, as her second book was equally engaging, cunningly paced, insightfully observant, and smartly written. This gal has mad skills. I adored her lovable yet flawed characters; they enticed and intrigued me. I have now wisely shuffled her name over from the Ones to Watch into the Favorite Authors List and feeling quite clever and rather Zen about it. I’m also happy to have a new addition to my Aussie Word List with little tackers, which the Urban Dictionary informed me was Aussie speak for small children.

 

Author Bio 

Megan’s stories are about families, intrigue and love. Every book contains a bit of humor and a lot of heart.

Megan lives in Melbourne with her husband and three children and has a background in public relations and higher education.

She drinks far too much coffee and has an addiction to buying scarves. She interviews with other authors for her blog series, Espresso Tales, and loves a bit of #bookstagram.

Her debut novel, The Things We Leave Unsaid, was released by Crooked Cat Books in 2018. Tangled Vines is her second novel.

 

Social Media Links –

Https://www.instagram.com/meganmayfairwrites

Https://www.facebook.com/meganmayfairauthor

Https://www.twitter.com/mayfairmegan

https://www.meganmayfair.com

 

Book Review: Christmas Miracles at the Little Log Cabin by Helen J Rolfe

Christmas Miracles at the Little Log Cabin

by Helen J Rolfe

Amazon UK / US / AU / CA

 

Do you believe in Christmas Miracles?

Holly is looking for a change and even though not everyone agrees with her career choices, she’s determined there’s more to this life than the long hours she works as an editor in New York City. What she doesn’t expect is to meet Mitch, a recluse who’s hiding more than she realizes.

Mitch does all he can to avoid human contact, spending his days in the little log cabin out in the woods behind Inglenook Falls where he owns a Christmas tree farm, so when Holly falls into his life, he’s not sure how to react. All he knows is that something needs to change if he ever wants to get his life back on track.

Along with friends Cleo and Darcy, Holly is determined to bring joy back to Mitch’s life, but will he appreciate their interference? And when a business proposition throws everything up in the air, will it do more harm than good and ruin lives forever?

Both Holly and Mitch must learn that on the surface people aren’t always what they seem…but if you dig a little deeper, they can take you by surprise.

Curl up this Christmas for plenty of snowflakes, roaring log fires, a marriage proposal, unlikely friendships and second chances as we return to the much-loved characters in the New York Ever After series.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quote:

 

‘People are scared of you, you know… I heard someone call you a yeti last time we were here.’ Mitch’s laughter rang out across the street making the woman coming out of the candy store jump. She crossed the road pretty quick. ‘You’ve got a real way with women,’ Jude joked.

My Review:

 

I adored this unexpectedly poignant and emotive tale. Ms. Rolfe’s sensitive writing and well-crafted story captured and held my attention, squeezed my heart, and kept me tethered to my Kindle all the way to the sweet and oh so satisfying conclusion. The storylines were original, unpredictable, slowly paced, and cast with a uniquely complicated and intriguing main character. Mitch had become a hermit who had gone off the deep end when his wife had left him and took his son with her after he had experienced an extremely difficult and devastating period in his career. However, there were far more levels to him underneath his crusty layers of scruff and hair than anyone knew. While he was reclusive and feared as possibly dangerous, he was most likely the gentlest person residing in his small town.   His spirit had been reawakened and he was starting to come back to himself after several years of near seclusion.   This was my first exposure to Ms. Rolfe’s lovely arrangement of words and although I may have been at a slight disadvantage as I jumped in at the fourth book of her series, I had no problem keeping up, yet my interest was sparked to delve into her previous books as well as any and all other collections of words she has and will ever scribble.

Author Bio 

 Helen J Rolfe writes contemporary women’s fiction and enjoys weaving stories about family, friendship, secrets, and community. Characters often face challenges and must fight to overcome them, but above all, Helen’s stories always have a happy ending.

Location is a big part of the adventure in Helen’s books and she enjoys setting stories in different cities and countries around the world. So far, locations have included Melbourne, Sydney, New York, Connecticut, Bath and the Cotswolds.

Social Media Links –

https://www.facebook.com/helenjrolfewriter

https://twitter.com/HJRolfe

www.helenjrolfe.com

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/helen-j-rolfe

Book Review: Christmas at Black Cherry Retreat by Angela Britnell

Christmas at Black Cherry Retreat

by Angela Britnell

Amazon US / UK / CA / AU

 

What if you had nowhere to call home for Christmas? 
When Fee Winter books a winter break at the remote Black Cherry Retreat in the small town of Pine Ridge, Tennessee, it’s with the idea that the peace and quiet will help her recuperate from her hectic life as a photographer.

But what she didn’t bank on was meeting Tom Chambers and his huge, interfering yet lovable family. With them, could Fee finally experience the warmth and support that’s been missing from her own life – and maybe even find a place to call home in time for Christmas?

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

‘Mama’s orders, honey. It’s more than my life’s worth to argue.’ ‘Are you a man or a mouse?’ she hissed. He shuffled from one foot to the other. ‘Mouse when it comes to my mother. Sorry.’

 

Like so many men he wanted things both ways: to mean something to a woman without meaning too much.

 

I bought some of the chamomile tea Tom told me you drink… Tasted like cat’s pee to me when I tried it but I’m sure it’s mighty good for you.

 

Domesticity was never her mother’s forte… Meals were sporadic. Cleaning was something done by people with small minds and nothing better to occupy their time. And irons were only seen in historical dramas on the television.

 

‘And you think chitlins are nasty?’ Tom retorted. ‘The rest of your family won’t touch nasty pig intestines either. Your own mother said you were peculiar.’ He shook his head. ‘Y’all don’t know what you’re missing.’ ‘I’m happy to keep missing them.’ ‘Fine.’ Tom sighed. ‘Take me to the snails.’

 

The past never left a person alone but wound around them and became part of the fabric of who they were.

 

My Review:

 

This is one of those books I have a hard time rating and classifying as it had a bit of everything, emotional and physical issues, family drama, long-standing grief and guilt, parentage and identity issues, international travel, birth, death, a prison break, and a hard-won romance, and all occurring between Halloween and Christmas. I enjoyed the premise and storylines, but there were periods where the pacing dragged and I struggled considerably with the angsty, hypersensitive, and aggravating main character of Fee during the earlier parts of the book.   I had a difficult time appreciating Fee, as she was such a mess and a quagmire of unique and difficult issues.   She was initially extra prickly, resentful, often rude and thoughtless of others yet oversensitive and easily offended. I pitied sweet Tom with his white knight syndrome, although he came with a smaller set of battered and devastated baggage himself. Thankfully with Tom’s gentle perseverance and endless patience, the frosty Fee began to thaw and I enjoyed the manner Ms. Britnell chose to allow her to bloom and find her balance, voice, and wry humor. Toss in small town intrusiveness, a large meddlesome family, holiday observances, and an exuberant and a well-loved toddler for periodic moments of levity.

Author Bio 

Angela grew up in Cornwall, England and returns frequently from her new home in Nashville, Tennessee. A lifelong love of reading turned into a passion for writing contemporary romance and her novels are usually set in the many places she’s visited or lived on her extensive travels. After more than three decades of marriage to her American husband, she’s a huge fan of transatlantic romance and always makes sure her characters get their own happy-ever-after. Over the last twelve years, she’s been multi-published and sold over 25 novels. She also writes short stories for women’s magazines. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, the Romance Writers of America and the Music City Romance Writers.

 

Social Media Links –

www.facebook.com/angelabritnell

www.twitter.com/angelabritnell

www.angelabritnellromance.com

https://www.instagram.com/angelagolleybritnell/