Review: Christmas at the Falling-down Guesthouse by Lilly Bartlett @MicheleGormanUK

November 3, 2017November 3, 20176 Comments

Goodreads|Amazon US|Amazon UK
Release date: October 25, 2017

Publisher: Notting Hill Press

Genre: Holiday, Romance

Blurb:

Put your feet up and tuck into the mince pies, because you won’t have to lift a finger to enjoy this Christmas!

Too bad the same can’t be said for single mother and extremely undomestic goddess, Lottie.

When her beloved Aunt Kate ends up in hospital just before Christmas, Lottie and her seven-year-old daughter rush to rural Wales to take over her B&B. A picky hotel reviewer and his mad family are coming to stay, and without the rating only he can give them, Aunt Kate will lose her livelihood.

But Lottie can barely run her own life, let alone a hotel. How will she manage to turn the falling-down guesthouse into the luxurious wonderland the reviewer expects? And could the mysterious taxi driver, Danny, who agrees to help her, turn out to be the real gift this season?

As the snow sparkles on the trees and hot chocolate steams in your hand, snuggle into the delicious magic of Christmas at the Falling-Down Guesthouse.

I’m so delighted to be the stop on the blog tour for Christmas at the Falling Down Guesthouse today!

Review:

This was such lovely little bite sized read, it’s a novella so it should definitely be read in one sitting, preferably under your Christmas tree with a fire burning brightly and a cozy blanket on your lap! Can you tell I’m ready for Christmas?! This put me in the most beautiful, festive mood and left me with a huge smile on my face.

Lottie and her daughter Mabel were the cutest characters, totally relatable and so much fun. Mabel is seven going on seventeen, the kind of kiddo who says some rather grown up things, which always makes me laugh as I have two daughters who both have the same endearing habit. I don’t want to discuss the plot because it’s such a short read and I’m afraid I’ll spoil it, but this is the perfect read to grab during the holidays when you need to escape the chaos of Christmas and embrace the magic of the season. It has the absolute best combination of humor and warmth with a dash of romance that left me feeling totally satisfied and more than ready to decorate my tree and turn on the Christmas music.

Overall rating: 5/5

Thanks to the author for my review copy.

Throwback Thursday: Beartown by Fredrik Backman #TBT

November 2, 2017November 2, 201715 Comments

Goodreads|Amazon
Release date: April 25, 2017

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Blurb:

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove returns with a dazzling, profound novel about a small town with a big dream–and the price required to make it come true.

People say Beartown is finished. A tiny community nestled deep in the forest, it is slowly losing ground to the ever encroaching trees. But down by the lake stands an old ice rink, built generations ago by the working men who founded this town. And in that ice rink is the reason people in Beartown believe tomorrow will be better than today. Their junior ice hockey team is about to compete in the national semi-finals, and they actually have a shot at winning. All the hopes and dreams of this place now rest on the shoulders of a handful of teenage boys.

Being responsible for the hopes of an entire town is a heavy burden, and the semi-final match is the catalyst for a violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil. Accusations are made and, like ripples on a pond, they travel through all of Beartown, leaving no resident unaffected.

Beartown explores the hopes that bring a small community together, the secrets that tear it apart, and the courage it takes for an individual to go against the grain. In this story of a small forest town, Fredrik Backman has found the entire world.

Review:

I’m joining in again with Throwback Thursday which was created by my good friend Renee at It’s Book Talk. She started this weekly feature as a way to highlight old favorites and read books that have already been published. I have so many older books on my TBR that get ignored in favor of review copies and I figure participating in Throwback Thursday will help me to read at a least one older title a week!

I’m going to keep this fairly brief as I don’t think anything I can say will convey just how beautiful and special this book is. It is unlike anything I’ve ever read before and I was actually super hesitant even though all of my most trusted blog buddies raved about, I should’ve known they would never let me down! I was mainly nervous because I am not a sports fan at all, ironic because I’m married to one of the biggest sports fans on the planet, but I digress. I wasn’t sure a book based on a small towns obsession with hockey would work for me but boy was I wrong. It’s SO much more than that, it’s deep, profound and extremely moving, it’s subtle and gorgeous and the language is amazingly simple but haunting in spectacular way. I will never forget this book or its characters and I highly recommend this to any reader, I truly think everyone can learn something from this one or at the very least be touched by it in some way.

Overall rating: 5/5

October Wrap Up

November 1, 2017November 1, 20178 Comments

We’ll Always Have Christmas was the ideal holiday read.

If There’s No Tomorrow was a powerful read.

The Deep Dark Descending was a fantastic atmospheric mystery.

I love Slater and The Mistake was a great psychological thriller.

My first TBT pick of the month was Until You’re Mine. I really liked this one!

Fifty Years of Fear is a highly unique read.

The Welcome Home Diner was women’s fiction with depth, it tackled several current issues.

Annie’s Christmas by the Sea was a really lovely and fun read.

Delaney is a great start to a new series, I really love Mullen’s style.

The Blackbird Season was a slow burning eerie read.

Snare was a highly original and tense read.

Snowflakes, Iced Cakes and Second Chances was a gorgeous and hilarious read.

Christmas at Butterfly Cove is the third and final book in an adorable series.

Her Last Secret was a character driven psychological thriller.

Seven Days of Us was a mixed bag for me.

If You Knew My Sister was a psychological thriller that was heavy on the psych aspect and low on thrills.

Under the Knife was an intense medical thriller.

The Little Village Christmas was a lovely read.

The Truth About Thea was a memorable psychological thriller.

Her Last Day was an exciting and fast paced thriller.

Silent Lies was a twisty thriller I loved it!

No-One Ever Has Sex on Christmas Day was a hilarious read.

The Memory Watcher was an addictive, entertaining psychological thriller.

The Lost Child was another fabulous read in a great series.

The Bitches of Suburbia was a sardonic read, like a cozy mystery with bite.

I adored Hilderbrand and Winter Solstice was the perfect ending to a wonderful series.

Murder Game was the conclusion to a fantastic series.
27 books total for October, not my best month but I’ll take it! Life is insanely busy and just keeps getter busier so we’ll see how it goes from here on out…

My favorite read this month was actually a TBT pick, The Memory Watcher but I also loved The Truth About Thea.

How was your October?! Feel free to link me to your own wrap up.

Review: Lilac Lane by Sherryl Woods

November 1, 2017October 31, 20176 Comments

Goodreads|Amazon
Release date: October 17, 2017

Publisher: MIRA

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Blurb:

No one writes about friends, family and home better than Sherryl Woods. Told with warmth and humor, Lilac Lane is a brand-new story in her beloved Chesapeake Shores series, one readers all over the world have waited two years to read!

At the heart of Lilac Lane is Keira Malone, who raised her three children alone after her first marriage broke apart, and who, after years of guarding her heart, finally finds love again. But that love is short-lived when her fiancé suffers a fatal heart attack. Grieving and unsure of what’s next, Keira agrees to move from Dublin to Chesapeake Shores, Maryland, to spend time with her daughter, Moira, and her new granddaughter, Kate, as well as to help her son-in-law, Luke, with his Irish pub, O’Briens

Not wanting to live underfoot, she rents a charming cottage on Lilac Lane, replete with views of the ocean and her neighbor’s thriving garden–not to mention views of the neighbor himself. The neighbor is none other than Bryan Laramie, the brusque and moody chef at the pub, with whom Keira is constantly butting heads. But things get real when Bryan’s long-lost daughter, whom he hasn’t seen since she was a baby, shows up out of the blue. As Bryan and Keira each delve into their pasts, reopening wounds, the rest of the town is gearing up for the Fall Festival Irish Stew cook-off, and making no bones about whose side they’re on. It’s Kitchen Wars meets This is Your Life–a recipe for disaster…or a new take on love?

You won’t want to miss this epic return to Chesapeake Shores, a place we’re betting you’ll want to stay forever.

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Lilac Lane. You can see the full schedule on TLC Book Tours.

Review:

Right before I started reading this I realized that it’s the fourteenth book in a series so to say I was little apprehensive is fitting. That is a LONG history and I feared I would have trouble connecting with the characters or that I would be lost due to long running backstories. Thankfully, I had absolutely no issues at all and found myself immediately swept away to Chesapeake Shores and totally charmed by this quaint little town and it’s residents.

It looks like every book in this series follows a new couple, reminiscent of RaeAnne Thayne’s long running Haven Point series, and that made it extremely easy to follow along. Keira comes to town from Ireland at the urging of her daughter and helps out in the kitchen at Moira and Luke’s pub. Bryan is the head chef and him and Keira immediately have a love/hate relationship (mostly hate) but I love that cliched trope in a romance, the chemistry and the sparks flying is always hugely entertaining to me!

This was a sweet, clean romance heavy on the importance of strong family bonds and ties to a community. Slightly predictable but truly adorable I loved my time spent in Chesapeake Shores and I just realized there’s a TV series based on the books so guess what I’ll be bingeing ASAP?! If you like Nora Roberts or Fern Michaels you would love Woods.

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for my review copy.

About the Author:

With her roots firmly planted in the South, Sherryl Woods has written many of her more than 100 books in that distinctive setting, whether in her home state of Virginia, her adopted state, Florida, or her much-adored South Carolina. Sherryl is best known for her ability to creating endearing small town communities and families. She is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over 75 romances for Silhouette Desire and Special Edition.

Website|Facebook|Twitter

#CoverReveal Follow the Snowflakes by Angelina Kerner @kernerangelina

November 1, 20175 Comments

Follow the Snowflakes: A Christmas Novella

Author Name: Angelina Kerner

Book Title: Follow the Snowflakes: A Christmas Novella

Date Published: December 15, 2017

Genre: Chick-lit, contemporary romance

Publisher: KDP Select

Synopsis:

At 28, it’s bad to be single. After four years of relationship struggles, Cat is ready to try anything.

That’s when her friend tells her about her class’ Dear Santa letters. One little boy asked for a new mommy, and she suggests Cat meets the kid’s dad, just to see where things go. Cat figures it can’t hurt…until she meets a stranger in the midst of a car accident. The man is handsome with a sad look in his eyes. He still wears a wedding band and she’s not sure his heart’s available, even if he makes her heart race. But, maybe he’s a widower? Cat wonders if she should resign herself to being an old maid, or whether she could possibly be the answer to a little boy’s Christmas wish, unless there’s a third option – a future with the stranger.

Author Bio:

Angelina Kerner’s writing career started at a young age when she discovered that her creativity could be channeled through a bit of ink and paper.

She moved around during her younger years from Novosibirsk and Kaluga Russia to finally settle in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. This startling contrast between the fierce snow of Siberia and the bright sun of the American West is a crucial source of inspiration and humility: the forces of people is to be found not only in their spirits, but in their land too.

Angelina’s curiosity in the human condition led her to pursue courses in psychology and blossomed into a master’s degree in Topographical science. It was with a burning fire that she rejected the status quo offered to her generation, and after many meaningless jobs, she decided that writing could be the canvas in which she could express this dichotomy. While working full time behind counters and registers, she persisted in supporting her family, her full-time coursework, and her creative dreams.

She dared to believe in her talents, and most importantly, in her ability to make a real mark on this world.

Like any creative soul, there was time for doubts, self-loathing, and loneliness, but never fear. She worked on countless experimental narratives, universes, genres, until her voice crystallized into her first published narrative. She is now the author of Deity’s Soulmate and Seven Hours: Challenge Accepted. Her next project involves a competition for a beautiful phoenix. Angelina currently divides her time between her family, work, writing, lots of cats, and two celestial dragons.

Author Links:

http://www.kernerangelina.com/ (Website)

https://www.facebook.com/AngelinaKernerFiction (Facebook)

https://twitter.com/kernerangelina (Twitter)

https://kernerangelina.live/ (Blog)

https://www.pinterest.ca/angelinakerner/ (Pinterest)

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14651070.Angelina_Kerner (Goodreads)
The Author, Angelina Kerner will be celebrating for 25 days at her blog with novella trivia starting on November 20, 2017. Follow her Blog in advance! Comment, like, or share the posts for entries to win swag! The more you will participate, the better chance you have at winning! There will be 3 winners, unless there will be ties. ^_^ So stay tuned.

Pre-order Links:

Coming soon

Alternate Covers: