The First Time We Met - Jo Lovett (Blog Tour & Review)

Date of Reading: 01/11/2020

Author: Jo Lovett

Publisher: Bookouture

Publication Date: November 10, 2020

Source: NetGalley

Rating: 4.5/5

About the book:

What if you met The One on his wedding day?

Izzy doesn’t believe in love at first sight, but when Sam walks into the cafe where she works one winter’s morning, she knows without a doubt that he’s the one. Too bad Sam’s getting married. Today.

Nearly a year later, Izzy still can’t stop thinking about Sam, the one that got away, but she knows it’s time to move on: he’s a married man and probably wouldn’t recognise her if he passed her on the street.

But Sam has never forgotten Izzy, the funny, gorgeous woman who asked him out on his wedding day. If the timing had only been better, he knows they could have had something wonderful.

When Izzy and Sam’s paths finally cross again, everything has changed. But with the Atlantic Ocean and decades of baggage between them, they are about to find out whether some obstacles are too big for even true love to overcome.

An unforgettable love story about what happens when the stars finally align. Fans of One Day in December, The Day We Met and Jojo Moyes will fall head over heels for The First Time We Met.

Review:

    Truth to be told, I am not a believer of love at first sight. Still, how can one resist a romance where fate plays a decisive role? Just as the blurb promised Izzy and Sam had a lot of hurdles to overcome. Keeping your love is not as easy as finding the one.

    Izzy meets Sam for the first time on his wedding day. There is a chance meeting again after a few years and neither can forget the other. But one is a widower with twins and the other is expecting a child. Finally, after fourteen long years, our story begins. One tiny glitch though; they are both at different ends of the Atlantic.

    I did love the way Lovett built up the story around both families. Sam is struggling to find a work-life balance and Izzy is still confused about her feelings towards her ex-husband. Sam's family is in shambles and sometimes I just felt that his children are being a bit hard on him. Well, the novel shows how marriage is also a union of families, smoothening the rough edges and bringing happy tears.

    This is my first Jo Lovett book and I am waiting for more. Without a doubt, this one goes straight to my favourite's shelf. Highly recommended!

Meet the author:

Jo Lovett lives in London with her family. 

She worked in Corporate Tax before taking a longer-than-expected career break to have more-than-expected children (five). She started writing romantic comedy when she realised that she was regularly begging her oldest son to let her do his English homework but she wasn't actually that interested in haunted houses or Macbeth.

Jo was runner-up in the Good Housekeeping/ Orion First Novel Competition 2018 and shortlisted for the Comedy Women in Print Award 2019.

When she can escape from her laundry mountain and childcare, she enjoys reading, tennis and wine.

https://twitter.com/JoLovettWrites

    

The Magnolia Sisters - Alys Murray (Blog Tour)

Date of Reading: 01/03/2020

Author: Alys Murray

Publisher: Bookouture

Publication Date: March 5, 2020

Source: NetGalley

Rating: 5/5

(This review is part of the blog tour organised by the publisher)

About the book:

Harper Anderson has a to-do list longer than the Colorado River, and fields of tulips to tend to at her family’s flower farm in Hillsboro County, California. It’s her dream to run the business with her sisters when their father retires, keeping up traditions that began with her great-great-grandmother.

That is if there’s a farm left to run. Rich out-of-towners looking for a slice of country living are hiking up the prices in town and it’s putting her family out of business. So she has no time for the arrogant LA tech mogul who makes her an offer to use their farm as his sister’s wedding venue. No amount of money could make up for the destruction it would wreak on next season’s crop. The sooner Luke Martin is on his way, the better.

But Luke isn’t willing to go. He’s been looking out for his sister ever since their deadbeat parents left them to fend for themselves, and he’ll do whatever it takes to make her happy. So when Harper’s newest farmhand leaves her in the lurch, he sees an opportunity to strike a deal. He’ll work on the farm for free if she’ll give him the chance to change her mind.

Harper and Luke each expect the other to crack first. What they don’t expect is the chemistry that sparks between them as they work side by side among the budding roses. But Luke’s presence is turning over more than the earth, and just as Harper is starting to let her guard down, he stumbles upon a secret that could spell disaster for the entire Anderson clan.

With her family’s happiness at stake, can Harper put her trust in a man who is worlds apart from everything she knows? 

Review:

      I must probably be living under a rock or why didn't I hear about this author before? So here I go with nothing but the blurb as my guide and what I find is a modern version of 'Pride and Prejudice'. Did you hear a scream? Yes, that's me jumping up and down in excitement. If you want to know, that happened pretty much throughout the reading process. Had my sister worried.

       So what is that glued me to the kindle? Everything -- vibrant and funny characters, the language that flows off the page, a storyline that makes you tingle . . . well, the list goes on. A kickass heroine prejudiced against the city dwellers, a socially awkward billionaire uttering all the wrong words -- that surely is a killer combination proved and tested from the classic times onwards. And it has ticked all the boxes for me: enemies to lovers, siblings love, and to top it all a sassy narrative that engages you throughout.

        Anderson family is similar to the Bennetts in most ways including a mother who is socially humiliating (in the perspective of Harper, anyway). The flower farm setting, if you borrow the term from Indian aesthetics, just adds to the rasa. I loved the way the bond between Harper and Luke developed slowly, thanks to some sisterly meddling from both sides. I don't want a single thing to be changed about this book, it's going straight to my favourite shelf.

        A sweet romance that will cheer you up and comfort you like a gift of flowers. Highly recommended!!!

Meet the author:

Alys Murray is an author who writes for the romantic in all of us. Though she graduated with a degree in Drama from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and a Master’s in Film Studies from King’s College London, her irrepressible love of romance led her to a career as an author, and she couldn’t be happier to write these stories! Currently splitting time between her home state of Louisiana and London, she enjoys kissing books, Star Wars, and creating original pie recipes for all of her books. Tobey Maguire is her Spider-Man.  

For Once in My Life - Colleen Coleman

Date of Reading: 09/03/2019

Author: Colleen Coleman

Publisher: Bookouture

Publication Date: November 20, 2018

Source: NetGalley 

Rating: 4.5/5

 

About the book:

 

Twenty-nine-year-old Lily Buckley planned to be happily married and in her dream job by now. Instead, she’s been single since being left at the altar three years ago, and works at her local paper, writing about giant vegetables at the village fete and a dog who looks exactly like Chewbacca.

Not quite what she was dreaming of.

So when Lily’s given the opportunity to write her own column it’s exactly what she’s always wanted – except what she has to write about. She has to do one thing every week that scares her.

With encouragement from her sexy colleague – and adrenalin-junkie – Christopher, Lily agrees. From sky-diving to haunted houses, Lily is going to be pushed to her limit. And since heartbreak has left her afraid of falling in love again, her growing feelings for Christopher might just push her past it…

But then her mum has a crisis, her column is the only thing keeping her – and her colleagues’ – jobs afloat, and Christopher’s ex arrives with her sights set on a romantic reunion.

Suddenly jumping out of a plane is the least of Lily’s problems… Can she save her family, her friends, and her heart – or will Lily let her fears hold her back?
An uplifting, feel-good story about friendship, romance, and finding the hero inside yourself. 

 

Fans of Marian Keyes, Mhairi McFarlane and Sophie Kinsella will love Colleen Coleman!  

 

My Review:

 

          I am kicking myself for not reading this sooner. Well, you know what they say . . . better late than never. But one thing is for sure; Colleen Coleman has got a very devoted fan.

        So what are the bits I loved? Absolutely everything -- the language, story, characters and the inspiration that emits from each and every page. Seriously, if you are on a writing slump, this book will surely guide you back to your desk. As Lily takes charge of her life and also her role as the new editor of the newspaper with each article, we feel that itch to transfer something to the paper along with her. Her columns are great by the way. They are funny, personal and evocative of the challenge she has gone through.

         While Lily encounters her past demons with each challenge set as inspirations for her columns, it is hard not to be uplifted. In spite of all the misfortunes she has suffered, fate is finally offering her a chance. So pick it up guys, to know how she meets it head-on.

 

Something to ponder . . .

 

"And that's the funny thing about beginnings, you often don't realise that they've already started"

 

"Because we can't control how others treat us, sometimes we don't get what we deserve, but it's how we respond that really defines us."

 

"I feel this is what my story was meant to be all along. I want to go wherever life leads me, without fear. And this time, I know I'll be strong enough"

 

Meet the author:

      Colleen Coleman is an Irish- Canadian novelist. She is the winner of the much-coveted Novelicious Undiscovered People’s Choice Award which launched to find the next ‘chick-lit star’. She spent over ten years working as a teacher of English and Philosophy before finally taking a deep breath, scrunching her eyes shut, putting her pen to paper and vowing not to lift it again until she wrote the words The End. As a result, her first novel was born. Colleen lives between London, Ireland and Cyprus with her very patient husband and very chatty twin daughters.  

Sorry Not Sorry - Sophie Ranald

Date of Reading: 28/01/2019

Author: Sophie Ranald

Publisher: Bookouture

Expected Publication: February 13, 2019

Source: NetGalley

Rating: 5/5

About the book:

Is this all there is? I hadn’t had so much as a sniff of a shag for over a year. I scraped the last dregs of Caramel Chew Chew ice cream out of the bottom of the tub with my finger and licked it. It left a sticky smear on my phone’s screen when I typed into Google, “How to find love, sex and happiness.” 

Charlotte has always been a good girl. 

She sorts her paper from her plastic. She eats her greens (even Spirulina, whatever that is). Boozy brunches with her best friends on the third Sunday of every month are about as bad as she gets. 

But being good is getting boring… 

Charlotte’s not just stuck in a rut – she’s buried in it up to her chin. The only company she has in bed is the back catalogue of Netflix and falling in love feels like the stuff of fairy tales. So when she stumbles across a popular podcast, Sorry Not Sorry, which challenges women to embrace their inner bad girl, she jumps at the chance to shake things up. 

Old Charlotte would never ask for a stranger’s number, go on a blind date or buy lacy lingerie… But New Charlotte is waving goodbye to her comfort zone (with a side order of margaritas). And it turns out that good things happen to bad girls, as Charlotte finally finds her Mr Right – or so she thinks… Is falling in love too tough a challenge even for Charlotte? 

Fans of Sophie Kinsella, Mhairi McFarlane and Matt Dunn will love this fabulously feel-good novel that will make you laugh till you cry and leave you living life to the full, margarita in hand!

My Review:

        I don't know how much my review will do justice to this book with my sleep induced brain, but my excited heart won't allow me to rest until I have posted this. Have you ever felt that particular urge to share your excitement just after reading an amazing novel? Ever experienced that bubbling happiness that won't be subdued unless you narrate the story to at least one person? If yes, then you know what I am going through now. Yup! I have found this wonderful chick lit (quite accidentally, in fact) and there is only one thing I can shout at you: READ IT!

         Well, since it is made quite clear how much I enjoyed reading it, let's go to the question of why. I am an avid Sophie Kinsella fan and anything of her style is always a bliss. They are not joking in the blurb about this being suitable for Kinsella fans -- the novel is a clever combination of humour, mystery and romance typical of the chick lit and it will keep you on your toes till the very end. (Even now I am tapping my feet on the floor 😇 )

      Charlotte is a heroine that is close to my heart and reading her story, thanks to the exemplary narrative skills of the author, was like being a part of her life. Boyfriend trouble, bridesmaid crisis and stifling but enjoyable work life . . . that pretty much surmises the plot we will go through. Even paced, with bits of mystery and conflicts strewed in between, the novel makes an excellent light read that is hard to put down. It cost me a night's sleep, but that was so worth it. Happy reading everyone!

Meet the author:

Sophie Ranald is the youngest of five sisters. She was born in Zimbabwe and lived in South Africa until an acute case of itchy feet brought her to London in her mid-20s. As an editor for a customer publishing agency, Sophie developed her fiction-writing skills describing holidays to places she'd never visited. In 2011, she decided to disregard all the good advice given to aspiring novelists and attempt to write full-time. Sophie also writes for magazines and online about food, fashion and running. She lives in south-east London with her amazing partner Hopi and Purrs, their adorable little cat.