Book Review: Wish Upon A Star by Trisha Ashley

"The perfect gift isn’t always under the tree…

Single mum Cally’s life is all about her little girl Stella. She’s resigned to the fact that the only romance she’s going to get is from the rom-coms she watches, and with her busy job and her daughter, she doesn’t have time to even think about love.

But life gets very tough when Stella gets sick. Balancing her job as a recipe writer and looking after Stella is all consuming, so when Cally meets handsome baker Jago the last thing she wants to do is fall in love, especially when she’s been badly burned by a Prince Charming from her past.

Can laid-back, charming Jago unlock Cally’s frozen heart and help her find true love and magic under the mistletoe?"

Rating: 4/5

You can buy Wish Upon A Star as a paperback or an eBook now.

A few weeks before Christmas, I eagerly began reading Trisha Ashley's latest book Wish Upon A Star, which looked like a gorgeous festive offering. In fact, it was one of my favourite Christmas book covers this year, and considering what it was up against, that's no mean feat! I was really excited to start this book, I haven't read anything by Trisha for a few years so I hoped this would be a book I could really settle down and enjoy. I thoroughly enjoyed the story by the end, but my only moan is that it just wasn't really festive at all! Yes, there's a small bit at the end which is what the cover is based on, but for me, that cover is a tad misleading as this isn't predominantly a Christmas read, and I think that is what you are lead to believe when you see that! Either way though, it was still a very good story and worth the read.

Cally is quite happily a single mother to her little girl Stella, but Stella has had terrible health problems since she was a baby. Cally has had to cope alone, but lives with the fear that Stella may not make it to adulthood unless something is done quickly. She works hard as a recipe writer for magazines, and doesn't have time for love, instead devoting all her time to her daughter. When she is forced to move back home to live with her mother, Cally finally has to relinquish some control and starts to make friends in her new village. There's baker Jago whom she quickly befriends, as well as the other residents too, all keen to help out with Stella in any way they can.

The story is a very emotional one, and as a parent I found it very easy to get hooked into it. I felt desperately sorry for Cally dealing with such a sick child, it must be such a worry and Trisha Ashley dealt with it so well in the story. She really puts across Cally's emotions so well that you're feeling them along with her, hoping that something can be done to help Stella. Stella on the other hand is the most delightful little girl. Quite often, I feel authors miss the boat with child characters, writing them unrealistically or so that you end up disliking them. Trisha Ashley has really made Stella so likeable, you feel a lot of emotion towards her character and felt the relationship between mother and daughter was utterly beautiful to read.

The small town called Sticklepond where the story takes place is picturesque, and I really enjoyed the descriptions of it, from Cally's mothers home to the town, and even the people who live in it. There's a real community spirit around, some of which you don't tend to see much these days with everyone and their busy lives, so it was nice to read this book for me. Cally's job as a food writer also lends to amazing and vivid descriptions of cakes and all sorts being littered throughout the book, many of which I hadn't heard of myself before reading them here! Ashley makes them all sound mouth-watering and I defy you to read this book without feeling hungry at least once! Cally certainly seems to have a dream job!

Jago is the main male character in the book, a baker from the village who meets Cally when she's attending one of Stella's many appointments. He's the perfect male hero for the book, I was willing Cally to look past her horrid past relationship with Stella's father which didn't end too well, and see the good in Jago. He is written so well you can't help but fall in love with him a little bit, and the slow progression of the relationship between he and Cally was perfect, I really did enjoy reading it! Aside from the lack of festive feeling, I really did enjoy this book. It was an uplifting yet very emotional read that I was easily able to connect to as I read, and I felt Trisha Ashley really brought the characters and their situations to life with her writing too. Look out for appearances for characters from her other novels too, I always love it when authors do things like that within their stories! Wish Upon A Star is certainly a book I can recommend, with wonderful writing, a great cast of characters and a story you will truly care about. Brilliant reading.

Book News: It Felt Like A Kiss by Sarra Manning

Sarra Manning is back this month with a brand new book, and what a gorgeous cover it has too! It Felt Like A Kiss is due out on 30th January, and I really want to complement the publishers on the cover, it's stunning and in real life has lovely foil highlights and just looks amazing. The story sounds wonderful too - I can't wait to get stuck in to the this one.

You can pre-order It Felt Like A Kiss as a paperback or an eBook now.

"Ellie Cohen is living her dream. A great job at an exclusive Mayfair art gallery, loyal mates, loving family, and really, really good hair. Well, there's the famous rock-star father who refuses to acknowledge her and a succession of 'challenging' boyfriends, but nobody's perfect.

But when a vengeful ex sells Ellie out to the press, she suddenly finds herself fighting to keep her job, her reputation and her sanity. Then David Gold - handsome, charming but ruthlessly ambitious - is sent in to manage the media crisis . . . and Ellie.

David thinks she's a gold-digger and Ellie thinks he's a shark in a Savile Row suit, so it's just as well that falling in love is the last thing on their minds . . ."

Book News: The Unfinished Symphony of You and Me by Lucy Robinson

Lucy Robinson is back this year with her third novel, and I cannot wait to read it! The Unfinished Symphony of You and Me is out on July 7th 2014 and sounds amazing, just the sort of thing I love to read. I've loved both of Lucy's previous so I'm already super excited to read this, even though there's quite a few months to wait yet!

"Sally is an outstanding singer and – with the possible exception of a nice cup of tea and a slice of cake – she loves singing more than anything else in the world. Unfortunately, she only loves singing in her wardrobe where nobody can hear her: she’d rather cut her head off than sing in public.

For years she’s managed to hide her prodigious talent and has worked as a wardrobe mistress at the Royal Opera House. But then a wild, heady summer of love and loss in New York changes her life and she returns to London having made a promise to audition for Opera School . . . and to her utter horror, she’s offered a place.

The night before term starts, a tired, beautiful-looking man turns up on Sally’s doorstep with an old hand-written message in his hand and a nervous smile on his face. With him come the best and worst memories of Sally’s life and she is stunned speechless . . . Although she still manages to attack him with a piece of pork belly.

How did he find her? Why is he here? And, with him back on the scene, how can she possibly fulfil her promise to train as a singer?"

Book Review: Here's Looking At You by Mhairi McFarlane

"Anna Alessi – history expert, possessor of a lot of hair and an occasionally filthy mouth – seeks nice man for intelligent conversation and Mills & Boon moments.

Despite the oddballs that keep turning up on her dates, Anna couldn’t be happier. As a 30-something with a job she loves, life has turned out better than she dared dream. However, things weren’t always this way, and her years spent as the ‘Italian Galleon’ of an East London comprehensive are ones she’d rather forget.

So when James Fraser – the architect of Anna’s final humiliation at school – walks back into her life, her world is turned upside down. But James seems a changed man. Polite. Mature. Funny, even. People can change, right? So why does Anna feel like she’s a fool to trust him?"

Rating: 5/5

You can buy Here's Looking At You as a paperback or an eBook now.

At the end of 2012, I read and loved a debut novel called 'You Had Me At Hello' by a brand new author called Mhairi McFarlane. That book very quickly became a best-seller, and rightfully so because it was a fantastic read. Luckily for her new fans, Mhairi was back at the end of last year with a brand new book, Here's Looking At You. I started it over the Christmas holidays and it became my bedtime reading. I looked forward to picking it up each night and getting back into Anna's story and find out how this romantic tale was going to end!

Anna Alessi is a Professor at History at university, and absolutely loves her job. She really knows her stuff when it comes to history, but when it comes to romance and relationships, she honestly hasn't got a clue. She's recently turned to internet dating, but hasn't quite managed to find her Mr Right there yet either. When a work project leads her to get involved with a new company, and a face from her not-so-happy past makes an appearance, Anna's world is turned upside down. James Fraser is someone Anna would rather forget, but he's quickly becoming a frequent visitor into her life, and he seems a totally different person to when he was a teenager. Anna still isn't sure whether to trust him again, but she isn't sure she can stop falling for him anyway...

While this book took me a little while longer to get into than Mhairi's first one, it was still just as enjoyable and I loved not knowing where the story was heading, and exactly what Anna was going to do about James. I liked Anna a lot - she had a pretty bad time of it as a teenager, and we get to see a glimpse of this at the start of the book, it did make me cringe a bit, poor old Anna! The idea of bumping into someone who you didn't like at school is a realistic one, and it certainly made me wonder how I would deal with it if I ended up bumping into people I would rather not have done! Anna actually handled the situation quite well, although a few changes since then certainly helped her with that! It's inspiring to see how she's pulled herself through her tough times and has made a success of herself, I enjoyed this aspect of the book. Anna is very likeable throughout the book though, and you certainly want to keep reading her story to find out more.

James is one of those characters I wanted to dislike, but I just couldn't! He was really nice, and shows how people can change from their immature, hormone-ridden teenage selves. Anna really wasn't sure whether to trust him, but I felt sorry for him due to his own personal strife that he's going through, and I really hoped Anna would give him a chance and allow him to prove himself to be a good man once and for all. It's just a shame he happens to hang around with the biggest pig in the world called Lawrence, the man we are definitely meant to hate! The more minor characters in the story were fantastic too. I especially loved Anna's sister Aggy, who is engaged to be married and is excitedly planning her wedding. She provided quite a few funny moments, but I loved the relationship she had with her sister too, it was lovely to read.

The progression of the story was great to read, it moved at a good pace that allowed things to happen quite naturally and I really enjoyed Mhairi's writing. There was lots in the book to make me laugh, and a few more serious and emotional moments too. I felt really sorry for Anna being so affected by what she went through as a teenager, and it's a stark reminder to us all to treat others as we would want to be treated ourselves. There's a good message in this book, and I felt it really delivered on that, especially with the characters within the story that I really did care about and wanted a happy ending for. I also have to say I really enjoyed the side plot of Anna's job and the few historical snippets I learnt throughout the book too, it made the book a little more fun to read for me! This is a fantastic second novel from Mhairi McFarlane and certainly cements her as one of my new favourite Chick Lit authors that I will be looking forward to reading for many years to come. A fab book, and a must-read from me!

Book News: After I Left You by Alison Mercer

Alison Mercer is back with her second novel, and what an amazingly gorgeous she has for it! After I Left You sounds like such an intruiging read, and I am really looking forward to reading it. The only niggle is that it's only out as an eBook on 30th January, the paperback version won't be available until 31st July... I really don't understand why publishers do this really! Either way, I'm sure it'll be one we will all want to read in one format or another.

You can pre-order After I Left You as a paperback or an eBook now.

"Anna has not been back to Oxford since her last summer at university, seventeen years ago. She tries not to think about her time there, or the tightly knit group of friends she once thought would be hers forever. She has almost forgotten the fierce sting of betrayal, the heartache, the secret she carries around with her, the last night she spent with them all.

Then a chance meeting on a rainy day in London brings her past tumbling back into her present, and Anna is faced with remembering the events of that summer and the people she left behind. As Anna realises that the events of their past have shaped the people they've all become, hope begins to blossom for what the future could hold . . ."

Book Review: Sleigh Bells in the Snow by Sarah Morgan

"Once upon a time, Christmas was Kayla Green's favorite time of year. Now all the workaholic wants for Christmas is for it to be over—as fast as possible! So when duty calls her to snowy Vermont to close a deal with a new client, Kayla is grateful for an excuse to avoid the holidays for another year. 

Jackson O'Neil left a thriving business behind to return home and salvage his family's resort—it's in his blood, and he can't let it fail. Now that he's got marketing whiz Kayla Green working with him to put Snow Crystal on the map, success is on the horizon. The fact they strike enough sparks off each other to power all the Christmas lights in Vermont is just an added bonus. 

Kayla might be an expert at her job, but she's out of her depth with Jackson—he makes her crave the happy-ever-after she once dreamed of, and it's terrifying. As the snowflakes continue to swirl, will the woman who doesn't believe in the magic of Christmas finally fall under its spell?"

Rating: 5/5

You can buy Sleigh Bells in the Snow as a paperback or an eBook now.

I know Christmas has passed already (sob!) but I do have a couple more Christmas reviews to post, so do bear with me! One such read was my first Sarah Morgan novel that I read on my iPhone kindle app. I had heard such good things about this book that I was willing to put up with reading it on a far too small screen late into the night to get it read, and I am so pleased that I did, it's gone right up there as one of my favourite Christmas 2013 reads! It also makes me very excited to read more from Sarah Morgan, a good Christmas romance is exactly what I love to read at this time of year!

Kayla really doesn't celebrate Christmas and is more than happy to work her way through it, not even acknowledging the festive season much to the amusement of her colleagues. When she's offered a job scouting a prospective new holiday resort called Snow Crystal, she jumps at the chance of spending Christmas at an isolated log cabin in the middle of Vermont. When she arrives at the resort, she meets the new manager Jackson, and sparks soon fly between the pair - mainly because he's determined to make her love Snow Crystal and his family, and she wants to stay as unemotionally attached as possible! As the magic of Snow Crystal is revealed to Kayla, she fights to stop falling in love with not just the resort but someone else too...

As I mentioned, I haven't read anything by Sarah Morgan yet, but being that the book is published by Mills & Boon, I was sure I was in for a lovely romantic read, and I wasn't wrong. The best thing about the book for me was the characters - they were all so likeable and you warmed to each and every one of them as you move through the book. Kayla was a bit of a mystery,we don't know why she doesn't like Christmas and it makes you want to keep reading because I felt like I needed to know why she behaved how she did, especially towards Christmas, and feeling part of a family. Jackson was the real handsome alpha-male of the group - tall, dark and handsome indeed, and with good morals and ethics to boot. You can see why Kayla starts falling for him, I certainly loved him a little bit too!

The other thing which I really enjoyed about this book was the setting of Snow Crystal in Vermont. I assume that this is a fictional place, but Morgan really brings in to life on the pages with her wonderful descriptions of the gorgeous, wooden log cabins, deep white snow and ski slopes galore. Everything about it makes Snow Crystal seem like the perfect Christmas destination, and it certainly helps make Kayla's job of doing PR for the resort much easier! I loved how Morgan described it, reading from the tourist Kayla's point of view really allowed her to be vivid with her descriptions, everything from the snow to the cabins selling hot chocolate sounded amazing, and I wish there was somewhere like that I could visit for Christmas, it sounds magical.

This book was a recipe for success for me, and I have to say I absolutely loved it. I was so consumed by the story that I found myself reading it on my iPhone at every opportunity I got, keen to find out what was going to happen next with Kayla and Jackson, whether she'd ever let him in emotionally, and to find out how the story was going to end for the pair! Morgan's writing was a joy to read, so easy to follow and I honestly thoroughly enjoyed every single page. I also have to complement Morgan on her more secondary characters which I felt were as well written as the main ones - my favourite included Jackson's brothers, and the chef Elise. They all had a story that was important to the main plot, and added more depth to the book. I loved this book so much, I know it won't be the only Sarah Morgan book I read, and it's one I'll eagerly be re-reading every festive season!

Book News: The Love Detective by Alexandra Potter

Welcome back to my blog! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and a very happy new year. Now I'm back with lots of book news, and first up is a the first in a new series by author Alexandra Potter! Her new book The Love Detective is out on January 16th 2014, and I'm lucky enough to have a copy on my shelf to review! It looks like a really good read, and I'm excited to start a new book series :)

You can pre-order The Love Detective as a paperback or an eBook now.

"'In a way, I'm a bit of a love detective. Because what's a greater mystery than love?'

Meet Ruby Miller. A writer who makes happy-ever-afters happen. Until she discovers her fiance is a lying cheat and loses her faith in love. So when her sister invites her on a beach holiday to Goa to forget about him, Ruby jumps on a plane . . . and into an extraordinary adventure.

Stolen bags, a runaway sister and a handsome American stranger sweep Ruby into a magical mystery tour across India. Amid fortresses and fortune tellers, and a whirlwind of weddings, she uncovers fascinating stories of love, lost and found.

But as the mysteries deepen, secrets are revealed that turn Ruby's life upside down. And what started as a journey to find her sister, becomes a journey to find herself - and love - again."