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Showing posts from 2017

Review: The Wardrobe Mistress by Natalie Meg Evans

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*Thanks to Bookbridgr and Quercus for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for a review!*  London 1945. A young war widow steps aboard a train in search of a new life. Clutching the key to a mysterious inheritance, Vanessa Kingcourt can no longer resist the pull of the old Farren Theatre - an enchanted place seeped in memories of her actor father. Now owned by troubled former captain Alistair Redenhall, The Farren is in need of a Wardrobe Mistress and a new lease of life. With no experience and no budget for supplies, Vanessa must use her intuition to create beautiful costumes from whatever scraps of silk and thread survived the blitz. It's a seemingly impossible task, but a welcome distraction as she struggles to resist her blossoming feelings for Alistair. What Vanessa discovers could unravel family secrets sewn deep into the very fabric of the London theatre scene . . . but will she repeat the same terrible mistakes her father made? And can she dare to love a man who will

Blog Tour: Jenny Sparrow Knows the Future by Melissa Pimentel

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Jenny Sparrow can tell you her future: 1. Meet soulmate at 25  2. Move in with him 3. Marry him this year . . .  According to the plan Jenny made at thirteen, it's time for her to get married. But when her boyfriend proposes a break instead of a wedding, a girls' weekend in Vegas is the only solution . . . until she wakes up in a stranger's bed, and discovers that this is the year she gets married - to the wrong man. Jenny wants a quick divorce and her old boyfriend back. But what if her accidental husband has other ideas? Review If you're looking for a quick, fun summer read then Jenny Sparrow Knows the Future  is the book for you. I raced through it in a single day and am already on the lookout for more Melissa Pimentel novels! The plot of Jenny Sparrow is a classic one.. girl wakes up in Vegas married to the wrong guy. Or is he the wrong guy? Jenny is an avid list maker. Obsessed by a life plan she made when she was thirteen she's one proposal away from hitting h

Blog Tour: Summer's Lease by Carrie Elks

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Cesca Shakespeare has hit rock bottom. Six years after the play she wrote bombed at the box office, she’s unable to hold down a job, keep an apartment, and worst of all her family have no idea how far she’s fallen. So when her fairy Godfather offers her the use of his friend’s Italian villa for the summer, she grudgingly agrees to try writing a new play. That’s before she finds out the house belongs to her arch-nemesis, Sam Carlton.  When Hollywood heart-throb Sam Carlton sees his name splashed across a gossip rag, all he wants to do is hide. That’s how he finds himself travelling to Italy, deciding to spend the summer in his family’s empty villa on Lake Como. Except when he arrives it isn’t as empty as he’d hoped.Over the course of the hot Italian summer, Cesca and Sam have to come to terms with their pasts. What begins as a tentative friendship quickly grows into an intense attraction – and then a scorching fling. But they can’t hide from reality forever . . . as their different worl

Review: The Captain's Girl by Nicola Pryce

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I had previously read, and really enjoyed, Nicola Pryce's previous novel Pengelly's Daughter , so I jumped at the chance to read  The Captain's Girl . Thanks to Readers First for providing me with a copy in exchange for a review! Cornwall 1793 - As the French Revolution threatens the stability of England, so too is discontent brewing in the heart of Celia Cavendish. Promised to the brutal Viscount Vallenforth, she must find a way to break free from the bounds of a life stifled by convention and cruelty. Inspired by her cousin Arbella, who just a few months earlier followed her heart and eloped with the man she loved, she vows to escape her impending marriage and take her destiny back into her own hands. She enlists her neighbours, Sir James and Lady Polcarrow, who have themselves made a dangerous enemy of Celia's father, in the hope of making a new life for herself. But can the Polcarrows' mysterious friend Arnaud, captain of the cutter L'Aigrette, protect Celia

Review: One Summer in Tuscany by Domenica De Rosa

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Love, rivalry, and writing in a Tuscan paradise . . . Welcome to the Castello de Luna High on a hill in the Tuscan countryside stands a castle of golden stone, home to Patricia O’Hara’s writers’ retreat – a serene hideaway where you can polish your prose by the pool, gain inspiration from your peers and eat the best melanzane in Italy, courtesy of chef Aldo. But, while the splendour of their surroundings never fails to wow the guests, huge maintenance bills and bad news from the bank threaten to close Patricia down. It’s make or break time for the Castello de Luna.   This August each of her seven aspiring authors arrives with emotional baggage alongside their manuscripts. But something is different. It may be just the prosecco, but soon lifelong spinster Mary is riding on the back of Aldo’s Vespa, and smouldering odd-job man Fabio has set more than one heart racing.   As temperatures rise, the writers gossip, flirt and gently polish their prose by the pool. But with some unexpected vis

Film Review: Wonder Woman

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As someone who has never read/seen anything Wonder Woman related I went into this not knowing at all what to expect. The trailer instantly sold it to me, mainly I have to admit because of the prospect of Chris Pine in First World War period costume, but also because I wanted to know the back story behind who is perhaps the greatest of all female superheroes. I wasn't disappointed. In short, I loved it, so much so that I've seen it twice! I'm a sucker for films set in the past, so it's no surprise that this film is up there for me alongside the first Captain America: The First Avenger film as my favourite super hero movie. In fact I think it may actually surpass it! There are a lot of similarities between the two films (especially the ending but I won't talk about that here), and that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it was everything I wanted it to be and more. Gal Gadot is perfect casting for Diana. She is beyond beautiful

Review: Crimson and Bone by Marina Fiorato

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Marina Fiorato is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. Her previous novel, Kit , is among my all time top reads, and so it was with high expectations and much excitement that I picked up Crimson and Bone. I wasn't disappointed. London, 1853. Annie Stride has nothing left to live for. She is a penniless prostitute, newly evicted from her home and pregnant. On the night she plans to cast herself from Waterloo Bridge into the icy waters of the Thames, her life is saved by Francis Maybrick Gill, a talented Pre-Raphaelite Painter - and her world is changed forever. Francis takes Annie as his artist's muse, elevating her from fallen woman to society's darling. With her otherworldly beauty now the toast of London, her dark past is left far behind. But Annie's lavish new life is not all it seems - and there are some who won't let her forget where she came from... REVIEW I've always loved the Pre-Raphaelite era (a love cultivated by Aiden Turner's turn as Dante

Review: Echo in the Wind by Regan Walker

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*Thanks to Regan Walker for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for a review* England and France 1784 Cast out by his noble father for marrying the woman he loved, Jean Donet took to the sea, becoming a smuggler, delivering French brandy and tea to the south coast of England. When his young wife died, he nearly lost his sanity. In time, he became a pirate and then a privateer, vowing to never again risk his heart. As Donet’s wealth grew, so grew his fame as a daring ship’s captain, the terror of the English Channel in the American War. When his father and older brother die in a carriage accident in France, Jean becomes the comte de Saintonge, a title he never wanted.  Lady Joanna West cares little for London Society, which considers her its darling. Marriage in the ton is either dull or disastrous. She wants no part of it. To help the poor in Sussex, she joins in their smuggling. Now she is the master of the beach, risking her reputation and her life. One night off the coast of B

Review: How to Stop Time by Matt Haig

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Benedict Cumberbatch owns the films rights to this, and it hasn't even been published yet. Are you sold? Due to hype alone I'm expecting How to Stop Time to be HUGE this summer, and thanks to NetGalley and Canongate Books, I'm one of the lucky few to read it before everyone else! 'I am old. That is the first thing to tell you. The thing you are least likely to believe. If you saw me you would probably think I was about forty, but you would be very wrong.' Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he's been alive for centuries. From Elizabethan England to Jazz Age Paris, from New York to the South Seas, Tom has seen a lot, and now craves an ordinary life. Always changing his identity to stay alive, Tom has the perfect cover - working as a history teacher at a London comprehensive. Here he can teach the kids about wars and witch hunts as if he'd never witnessed them first-hand. He can try and ta

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Things that Will Instantly Make Me Want to Read A Book

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It's been too long since I participated in Top Ten Tuesday! Apologies for not being more active on here, time is in short supply at the moment. I am however a lot more present over on Instagram! If you have an account over there, my username is @readinginwellies. Expect to see lots of pictures of books with the occasional insight into country living. Anywho, back to Top Ten Tuesday! Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish! Today's theme is ten things that will make me want to read a book. I like to think that I'm quite open minded when it comes to books, but at the same time I know what I like and am consequently drawn to what fits the bill. If a book has one, or preferably several, of the following then it is a must-read for me: 1) Pretty covers.  We all know the saying 'never judge a book by it's cover', but who are we trying to kid? Of course we judge by the cover! Or at least I do. The more eye-catching a book is, the more likely

Review: This Love by Dani Atkins

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** Thanks to Jessica Barratt and Books and the City for providing a copy of this book in exchange for a review!**   Sophie Winter lives in a self-imposed cocoon - she's a single, thirty-one year old translator who works from home in her one bedroom flat. This isn’t really the life she dreamed of, but then Sophie stopped believing in happy endings a very long time ago, when she was fifteen years old and tragedy struck her family. Her grief has left her scared of commitment and completely risk averse, so she plays it safe and keeps everyone at arm’s length. Sophie understands she has a problem, but recognising it and knowing how to fix it are two entirely different things. One night a serious fire breaks out in the flat below hers. Sophie is trapped in the burning building until a random passer-by, Ben, luckily happens to spot and rescue her. Suddenly her cocoon is shattered - what will be the consequences of this second life-changing event? Review Spoilers aside, had I known the s

Film Review: Beauty and the Beast

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I have been looking forward to this film for so long. No surprise then that I booked tickets for the very first screening at my local cinema yesterday morning. I wasn't disappointed, if anything it was actually better than I was expecting! It's been a long while since I saw the original cartoon of Beauty and the Beast, so I can't do a direct comparison, but in my mind this live action adaptation surpasses it. When you want to watch a film again immediately after the credits have rolled you know it's a good one. Let me just start out by praising the musical god that is Alan Menken. At least 50% of my musical soundtrack Spotify playlist is accredited to him, and if he could score every movie for the rest of my life I would be a very happy girl. He scored the original Beauty and the Beast, so it would have been rude, and foolish, not to invite him back for the remake. This time acround the soundtrack is even more breathtakingly beautiful and enchanting, and together with t

Review: The Last Piece of my Heart by Paige Toon

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***Firstly, massive thanks to Simon and Schuster and Books and the City for surprising me with a proof of this novel - and for the adorable jigsaw that accompanied it!*** Meet Bridget, a successful travel journalist with ambitions to turn her quirky relationship blog into a novel. But, after numerous rejections from publishers, she accepts an alternative proposition: Nicole Dupre died leaving behind a bestselling novel and an incomplete sequel, and the family need someone to finish it. Bridget is just thankful to have her foot in the publishing door. But as she gets to know Nicole’s grieving family, and the woman behind the writing, Bridget’s priorities begin to change … As a rule, I don't like chick-lit and I don't much like children. Imagine my surprise then when I really loved this book! Maybe my tastes are changing now that I've hit my mid-twenties... The premise is simple - if every person you've ever loved has taken a piece of your heart, can you ever love someone

Review: The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

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Nemesis (n.) 1) An opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome; 2) A person’s undoing; 3) Joshua Templeman. Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman hate each other. Not dislike. Not begrudgingly tolerate. Hate. And they have no problem displaying their feelings through a series of ritualistic passive aggressive maneuvers as they sit across from each other, executive assistants to co-CEOs of a publishing company. Lucy can’t understand Joshua’s joyless, uptight, meticulous approach to his job. Joshua is clearly baffled by Lucy’s overly bright clothes, quirkiness, and Pollyanna attitude. Now up for the same promotion, their battle of wills has come to a head and Lucy refuses to back down when their latest game could cost her her dream job…But the tension between Lucy and Joshua has also reached its boiling point, and Lucy is discovering that maybe she doesn’t hate Joshua. And maybe, he doesn’t hate her either. Or maybe this is just another game. Review Contemporary romance isn't

Review: Paper Princess / Broken Prince / Twisted Palace by Erin Watt

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This review is for all three books in The Royals series - because I binge read them this week and they're now all one big crazy mess in my head. These Royals will ruin you… -------- PAPER PRINCESS Ella Harper is a survivor—a pragmatic optimist. She’s spent her whole life moving from town to town with her flighty mother, struggling to make ends meet and believing that someday she’ll climb out of the gutter. After her mother’s death, Ella is truly alone.  Until Callum Royal appears, plucking Ella out of poverty and tossing her into his posh mansion among his five sons who all hate her. Each Royal boy is more magnetic than the last, but none as captivating as Reed Royal, the boy who is determined to send her back to the slums she came from. Reed doesn’t want her. He says she doesn’t belong with the Royals. He might be right. Wealth. Excess. Deception. It’s like nothing Ella has ever experienced, and if she’s going to survive her time in the Royal palace, she’ll need to learn to issue

Review: Pengelly's Daughter by Nicola Pryce

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  Cornwall, 1793: Rose Pengelly's father has been ruined—he has lost his boat yard and his fortune, plunging Rose and her mother into poverty and debt. There appears to be only one way out of their terrible circumstances; for Rose to marry Mr Tregellas, a powerful timber merchant and the man Rose believes is responsible for her father's downfall. He has made his terms clear; either she marries him or faces homelessness and destitution. Desperate, Rose sets out to find evidence of Mr Tregellas's wrongdoing. In her search, she encounters a mysterious young sailor called Jim, who refuses to disclose his identity. Even as she falls in love with him, she questions who he really is. He may help her restore her fortune and her good name, but does he ever tell her the truth? Review From the cover of this novel I got a Catherine Cookson/family saga vibe that I have to admit almost put me off. But the blurb and the comparisons with Poldark had me sold. For a debut novel this has all

Review: Everything You Told Me by Lucy Dawson

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  You went to bed at home, just like every other night. You woke up in the back of a taxi, over 250 miles away. You have no idea how you got there and no memory of the last ten hours. You have no phone, no money; just a suicide note in your coat pocket, in your own writing. You know you weren’t planning to kill yourself. Your family and friends think you are lying. Someone knows exactly what happened to you. But they’re not telling… Review  Thanks to Corvus Books for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for a review. Thanks also to them for sending me an anonymous fake taxi receipt - a cheeky nod to the plot of this novel that left me massivey confused and accusing my long suffering boyfriend of pranking me! As to the book itself, it has all the ingredients for a good psychological thriller , and the opening was really strong. The central character I found really annoying and difficult to like -  but that really isn't uncommon for me in novels of this genre! It is a little d

Review: The Book of Mirrors by E.O Chirovici

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I was lucky enough to snag one of the gorgeous proof copies of this book. Massive thanks to Francesca Russell at Cornerstone! When big-shot literary agent Peter Katz receives an unfinished manuscript entitled The Book of Mirrors, he is intrigued. The author, Richard Flynn is writing a memoir about his time at Princeton in the late 80s, documenting his relationship with the famous Professor Joseph Wieder. One night in 1987, Wieder was brutally murdered in his home and the case was never solved. Peter Katz is hell-bent on getting to the bottom of what happened that night twenty-five years ago and is convinced the full manuscript will reveal who committed the violent crime. But other people's recollections are dangerous weapons to play with, and this might be one memory that is best kept buried. Review There is a lot of hype surrounding this book-although I have to admit that I hadn't heard of it or the author before-so I was eager to see what all the fuss was about. On the face o