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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...

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 ...

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 unexp...

** 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...

***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...

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 ...

Synopsis Twenty-one years after they were driven apart by circumstances beyond their control, two former lovers have a chance encounter on a Manhattan street. What follows is a tense, suspenseful exploration of the many facets of enduring love. Told from altering points of view through time, If I Forget You tells the story of Henry Gold, a poet whose rise from poverty embodies the American dream, and Margot Fuller, the daughter of a prominent, wealthy family, and their unlikely, star-crossed love affair, complete with the secrets they carry when they find each other for the second time. Written in lyrical prose, If I Forget You is at once a great love story, a novel of marriage, manners, and family, a meditation on the nature of art, a moving elegy to what it means to love and to lose, and how the choices we make can change our lives forever.  Review Compact, neat, beautiful. This is one book that you can judge by it's cover. Sure, the plot is nothing new, but whole novel is jus...

Synopsis Working for a wine-maker in France is the opportunity of a lifetime for Emmy. Even if she doesn't know a thing about wine - beyond what's on offer at the local supermarket. There's plenty to get to grips with in the rustic town of Petit Frère. Emmy's new work friends need more than a little winning over. Then there's her infuriatingly brash tutor, Isaac, and the enigmatic Madame Beaumont, tucked away in her vineyard of secrets. But Emmy will soon realise that in life - just as in wine-making - the best things happen when you let go and trust your instincts. Particularly when there's romance in the air...  Review Pack up your suitcase, it's time for another holiday with Jo Thomas! Her books never fail to transport me to another place, with a wonderful cast of characters that by the novel's end you will consider friends. Emmy may be a tad stereotypical as a chick-lit lead character, but her love interests most certainly are not, and my feelings t...

Lavender House is the third and final installment of the Quercus Summer Reading Challenge. Synopsis Nancy de Freitas is the glue that holds her family together. Caught between her ageing, ailing mother Frances, and her struggling daughter Louise, frequent user of Nancy's babysitting services, it seems Nancy's fate is to quietly go on shouldering the burden of responsibility for all four generations. Her divorce four years ago put paid to any thoughts of a partner to share her later years with. Now it looks like her family is all she has. Then she meets Jim. Smoker, drinker, unsuccessful country singer and wearer of cowboy boots, he should be completely unsuited to the very together Nancy. And yet, there is a real spark. But Nancy's family don't trust Jim one bit. They're convinced he'll break her heart, maybe run off with her money - he certainly distracts her from her family responsibilities. Can she be brave enough to follow her heart? Or will she remain glued...

Love isn't an exact science - but no one told Don Tillman that. A thirty-nine-year-old geneticist, Don's never had a second date. So he devises the Wife Project, a scientific test to find the perfect partner. Enter Rosie - 'the world's most incompatible woman' - throwing Don's safe, ordered life into chaos. But what is this unsettling, alien emotion he's feeling? Review This is an absolute gem of a book, and I can't believe it's taken me so long to get around to reading it! Once I started I couldn't put it down - Don's narrative voice is just so endearing. I tend to avoid 'rom-com' style books as I find them a bit cringeworthy, but that's certainly not the case here. This book is brilliantly written - it really made me smile, even laugh out loud in places, and I hope that when the inevitable film adaptation comes along the director will be able to do it justice. Don's character reminds me exactly of a guy I went to university ...

Some moments can change your life for ever. Have you ever wondered, what if...? A man is walking down a country lane. A woman, cycling towards him, swerves to avoid a dog. On that moment, their future hinges. There are three possible outcomes, three small decisions that could determine the rest of their life. Eva and Jim are nineteen and students at Cambridge when their paths first cross in 1958. And then there is David, Eva's then-lover, an ambitious actor who loves Eva deeply. The Versions of Us follows the three different courses their lives could take following this first meeting. Lives filled with love, betrayal, ambition but through it all is a deep connection that endures whatever fate might throw at them. The Versions of Us explores the idea that there are moments when our lives might have turned out differently, the tiny factors or decisions that could determine our fate, and the precarious nature of the foundations upon which we build our lives. It is also a story about t...

Today I'm excited to be taking part in the blog tour for Losing at Love, the latest novel by Jennifer Iacopelli. Don't forget to enter the giveaway! Synopsis Grass courts, tennis whites and the fiercest competition in the world. Wimbledon. After two crazy weeks in Paris, the girls of the Outer Banks Tennis Academy are headed to London with just one thing on their minds: winning. Indiana Gaffney is fresh off a surprise win at the French Open junior tournament. Sponsors are clamoring for her attention, but what she wants more than anything—aside from a wild card to Wimbledon—is to be with Jack Harrison, but international fame and a secret relationship rarely mix well. When Penny Harrison dreamed of playing at Wimbledon she never imagined agonizing pain shooting through her ankle with every step. With just a month until the tournament and the whole world expecting her to win, she’s determined to play, with or without the support of her coach or the love of her life, Alex Russell. ...

This time last week I had neither read nor seen the film adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey. I wasn't really that interested - but curiosity got the better of me and I felt that it was only right to read the novel before watching the film. The Book I wanted to hate it. I wanted to hate Christian 'control-freak' Grey and Ana 'inner goddess' Steele. I was all set to write a scathing review and promote a few alternative novels in the same genre that I actually liked. Which is why you should never judge a book before you read it for yourself. I didn't hate it, quite the opposite in fact. Billionaire romance novels have never been my thing - I've read a few and just didn't like them. But this one was different somehow. It hooked me from the very start and it still hasn't let me go. I had never looked up the plot - of course I knew the basics - but the majority of the novel was actually more romantic than I expected. Ana reminds me a lot of myself - which ...

     Today I'm excited to be part of the blog tour for Third Time Lucky by Pippa Croft! I've really enjoyed reading this series! Third Time Lucky – #3 in the Oxford Blue Series by Pippa Croft Published by Penguin (October 9, 2014) Each book in the series can also be read as a standalone Previous novels are available on NetGalley Blurb 'It's Sister Dixon from the Royal Infirmary here. I'm sorry to tell you that Captain Hunt has been involved a serious incident.' Lauren Cusack should be on her way home for an holiday in Washington before her final term at Wyckham College, Oxford. But this call changes everything. Her relationship with impossibly handsome aristocrat Alexander Hunt has been turbulent and Lauren knows she needs to walk away. Yet now as she rushes to his side she knows she will be inevitably sucked back into his world. And sure enough, Alexander - even a seriously injured Alexander - is an intoxicating cocktail Lauren cannot resist and despite everyth...

Firstly I have to admit that my reading of this novel, and subsequently my review is undoubtedly coloured by the fact that I saw the film adaptation of it last year. I always try to read the book first, or if I really like the film I put off reading the book for a while so that I can enjoy them both separately, but I was too curious to pass this book up when I saw it on the library shelf. The whole story is told in first person perspective through Pat's eyes, sort of like a diary, which gives an insight into his incredibly fragile frame of mind. He is an OCD fitness fanatic, recently released from a mental institution (or 'the bad place' as Pat refers to it), who is adamant that he will be reunited with his ex-wife despite the fact that everybody doubts him. His firm belief in silver linings and happy endings at first glance seems to be a positive outlook on life, but as you read on you realise that his dream isn't going to come true, that this isn't going to play o...

Twenty year old Camryn Bennett needs to get away, to take a break and re-evaluate her life. On impulse she boards a bus out of town, destination chosen entirely at random, and sets off for the adventure of a lifetime. Andrew Parrish is also on a journey cross-country, only his trip is born out of necessity. As the paths of these two strangers cross and become irrevocably intertwined, their lives will never be the same again. This book had me hooked from the very start, and I raced through it in a couple of days. With alternating narratives from both Camryn and Andrew's perspective, we get an insight into their true feelings for each other as they get to know one another, and will them to get together. Although the subject matter isn't exactly ground-breaking, this book packs a punch through its emotional intensity, and believe me it really is intense in places. Other reviewers have said how they were in tears by the end, and although I didn't get that bad - it takes a lot f...

Today I'm excited to be taking part in the cover reveal for Fever by Melissa Pearl. I really like the cover for this novel, it's simple and effective, and the plot sounds intriguing too. Don't forget to enter the giveaway for your chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card and/or a Fever e-book! Genre: NA Contemporary Romance Release date: June 15th Designer: Mae I Design Ella Simmons does not want to move across the country. But she is, because her boyfriend has persuaded her to join him at UChicago to finish out her college education. Never able to tell him no, she hops on a plane and makes the trek from LA expecting to adjust to life like she's often forced to, but things are not that simple when she hears a luscious voice singing over her shower wall. His deep, sexy tenor makes her weak in the knees, spreading fire through her limbs and making her question everything about her life and relationship. Can one voice really have that much of an impact? Cole Reynolds is on his...

Today I'm excited to be part of the cover reveal for The Trouble Series of books by Rachel Morgan. All of the covers look really cute and the plots sound good too - I can't wait to read them! Synopsis: Four new heroines are about to enter the book world in this romance series full of swoon-worthy guys, comical moments, witty dialogue, and hot kisses… #1: The Introvert Sarah doesn't talk to strangers, but the cute guy sitting next to her on the plane might have to be the exception. Hours of random conversation later, Sarah thinks Aiden could be her happily ever after. The trouble is, he’s gone now—and she has no idea how to find him.  ~ The Trouble with Flying #2: The Nerd Livi sees her first year of university as a chance to redefine herself and finally fit into the popular crowd. But how far will she go before realizing that what she really wants has always been right in front of her? ~ The Trouble with Flirting #3: The Fraud After a stupid miscommunication, everyone in An...

Today I'm excited to be part of the book blitz for Meeting Mr. Wright, a romance novel by Cassie Cross. The cover is gorgeous, and the plot sounds really interesting; I'll be looking forward to reading this one! Don't forget to enter the giveaway to win a $50 Amazon gift card! Each individual blog taking part in the blitz also has one copy of the e-book to give away, so let me know in the comments if you're interested! Meeting Mr. Wright by Cassie Cross Publication date: April 17th 2014 Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance Synopsis: Callie Kirkpatrick promised herself she’d never fall in love again. After catching her boyfriend Ethan cheating on her, Callie decides to retire from the dating game at the ripe old age of twenty-four. Unfortunately for Callie, she’s going to have to see Ethan at her best friend’s upcoming wedding. Stranded in the airport during a weather delay on her way to the nuptials, Callie meets Nate Wright. He’s sexy and uncomplicated, and a one...