Author Interview: Julia Llewellyn

The lovely Julia Llewellyn agreed to answer some of my questions to celebrate the release of her new book Love Nest. I really enjoyed the read and was really pleased to be able to ask Julia some questions I had about the book, and about her as well. I really appreciate Julia taking the time to answer my questions, and I hope you enjoy the interview!

1. Tell us about your latest book in a sentence.

Love Nest is about four groups of people in a housing chain, buying each other's properties, and the reasons behind their moving house.

2. Love Nest follows a group of people whose lives are intertwined in various ways. How long does it take to sit down and sort out how all these people are "related" to each other before you begin writing?

I'm actually very bad at sorting out anything before I start writing. I tend to just write and see where it takes me. I think I spent about a day with a pad of paper, scribbling down ideas for the characters I wanted to write about. I was intrigued in particular by the idea of an infertile woman wanting her sister to donate her an egg, as a friend of mine was undergoing egg donation. I also wanted to explore the character of a woman whose husband was recovering from cancer who found, contrary to popular belief, that suffering hadn't made their relationship stronger but had destroyed it.

Book Review: Top Tips For Life by Kate Reardon

Top Tips for Life is a book compiled of tips taken from Toptips.com, a website created by author and journalist Kate Reardon to allow real women to share advice. The tips cover everything from raising toddlers and communicating with bolshy teenagers, to how to hula hoop properly and get rid of those awful burn marks on the bottom of your saucepan. If you've got a problem with your life, your home or your kids, then Top Tips might be the book for you.

Book Review: Daughters of Fortune by Tara Hyland

The Melville sisters might have money but does it always lead to happiness? Eldest daughter Elizabeth is determined to succeed in her family's business, despite the fact her father and owner William Melville doesn't seem to be very supportive of her plans. Elizabeth isn't about to back down but is she one to work behind the scenes without the glory? Amber isn't blessed with the business brains of her sister, but has the looks to carry her through. Amber doesn't have any plans to work for the family company but she's decided that modelling is the career for her. She moves to LA without her family's blessing and meets up with some bad boys and gets into things she knows she shouldn't. Unfortunately for Amber, she doesn't know a way out.

Finally, illegimate daughter Caitlin is still coming to terms with the death of her beloved mother when she's sent to live with her father William and his family. Caitlin soon feels she doesn't belong in the opulent world of the Melville's and breaks free as soon as she can. She's determined to make her own way in the world without using her family name, but is she going to get the success and recognition she's always wanted? And what about the family too?

The gorgeous proof of Tara Hyland's debut novel Daughters of Fortune landed on my doorstep a few weeks ago, and I was really curious to see what it was going to be like. It sounded very much in the vein of Tilly and Louise Bagshawe, Lulu Taylor and Olivia Darling, all authors that I love so I was pretty sure I was going to enjoy this book. I adore the gorgeous blue cover, and think it will really make it stand out in bookshops simply because it looks so elegant and the blue is just divine. Tara also revealed the American cover on her website, and we featured it in a Cover Wars post a while back, but I definitely prefer the UK cover! Anyway, back to the review.

Book Review: How To Be Married by Polly Williams

Sadie Drew thinks she's the world's worst wife. She doesn't keep her home spotless, she's a tad unorganised when it comes to paperwork and bills, and she's not exactly fond of her mother-in-law either. However, she loves being a mum and wife to her husband Tom, and everything seems just okay as it is.

That is until Tom gets a promotion at works and starts to change towards Sadie. Suddenly, he's not happy with the Sadie of old and wants his wife to change so she mixes in better with the other high-flying wives and makes him look good. Sadie's devastated, and desperately wants to make Tom fall in love with her all over again. A chance meeting with Enid at the park might just be the answer to all of Sadie's problems...

I've been a fan of Polly Williams' books since I read and loved her debut novel The Rise and Fall of A Yummy Mummy good few years ago now, and since then I've made sure to read every book she has written. Her last novel, A Good Girl Comes Undone was fab but it was a few years ago, so I've been waiting a while for this one. It was scheduled for release a long while ago, but Polly changed publishers to Headline, and finally How To Be Married has hit the shelves. The gorgeous turquoise blue cover is a new look for Polly's books, and I hope it wins her a new set of readers too.

Book Review: Celebrity Shopper by Carmen Reid

Annie Valentine has hit the big time, and she's thrilled! Years of hard graft as a Personal Shopper at The Store have paid off, and now Annie fronts her own show about how to dress and it's a massive success. She loves doing working in fashion, but didn't bank on being quite so busy. Annie's boyfriend Ed is feeling slightly left out because Annie's left him at home holding the babies - literally - as well as Annie's older 2 children Lana and Owen. He's not keen on the house renovations Annie's planning either, never mind the fact she never seems to want to marry him. Will Annie's career continue to get in the way of her personal life, or is the fame and glory everything Annie has ever wanted?!

Carmen Reid's 'Personal Shopper' series have been a very popular set of books, and this is the 4th title in the list so far! The Personal Shopper, Late Night Shopping and How Not To Shop have all featured the fabulous character of Annie Valentine, and luckily for fans of her, Carmen has brought her back for another adventure! I've enjoyed each of the books so far with them getting better as they go alone so I had high hopes for this book. I was excited to get the gorgeous green hardback through my door the other day and quickly set about reading it!

Book Review: Foursome by Jane Fallon

Rebecca and Daniel are happily married, and love their life together with their two children. They've known their best friends Alex and Isabel since they were at University and they've always done everything as a Foursome, from getting married to babies and even group holidays.

So when Alex leaves Isabel, it shatters their foursome once and for all and Rebecca isn't happy. It's made even more awkward when Alex makes a shocking confession to Rebecca, one of which might change the group dynamics forever. Suddenly, Alex appears with new girlfriend Lorna, who also happens to be Rebecca's enemy at work, and the two instantly clash. Is their foursome destined to be broken forever?

I adored Jane Fallon's debut novel Getting Rid of Matthew, and then went straight to the shops last year when her last book Got You Back was released, and I loved that too. I've been waiting for news of Jane's third book for ages, and so when it finally went up on Amazon I was so excited! I didn't like the first cover that was released so when the finished version seen above was shown to us, I thought it suited the book much better. When the book was delivered to my house a few weeks ago, I eagerly started to read it and devoured it in just a couple of days, it was fabulous!

Book Review: Anyone For Seconds by Fiona Cassidy

Frankie McCormick is just getting her life back on track. Her pig of a husband Tony left her for an American bimbo who he's now having a baby with, and left her with their 2 young children to look after, a job to hold down and a life to run too.

When she meets Owen at work, she doesn't expect him to be interested in a frumpy mum of 2, but luckily for her he is. However, there's one problem - Angelica, Owen's teenage daughter who seems hellbent on hating Frankie and making their relationship a misery. Is their relationship going to be able to survive the wrath of a wronged teenager or will it be heartbreak for Frankie once more?

This book was sent to me by Fiona's publicist Emma Walsh, and I was really eager to start it because it had such a good plot and looked exactly like the sort of book I love to read. Fiona is an Irish author published by Poolbeg Press, the leading publishers in Ireland for women's fiction, and I knew if they were publishing Fiona's book then it had to be good! We've been lucky enough to have Fiona write us a series of blog posts exclusively for our site about the road to becoming an author so do check those out if you get the time! Anyway, back to the review...