Tag: contemporary fiction

It is a truism, frequently invoked by the members of the Meryton Women’s Guild, that one is only ever as happy as one’s unhappiest child. So, with five daughters and four grandchildren, it was a miracle Mrs Hester Bennet ever raised a smile. At best, she was only ever tentatively pleased, and even then understood that her contentment rested on the edge of a gaping precipice into which she would inevitably tumble the second Kitty or Lydia (it was almost always those two) messaged in the clutches of yet another existential crisis…

Lydia, home from Paris on New Year’s Day in a welter of hangover and humiliation, finds herself swearing off drink, drugs and sex for the next 12 months. Through her unfamiliar sobriety, she’ll see a landmark year for all the Bennet sisters, including a disruptive 40th birthday, an engagement and a funeral: and, maybe, coming to terms with the results of a run-of-the-mill run-in with a jackknifed lorry on a wet stretch of the M1…

A sharply funny and unexpectedly tender modern sequel to Pride & Prejudice, this is a story of sisterhood, survival, and second chances. For fans of Marian Keyes, Dolly Alderton, and anyone who’s ever wondered what the Bennet sisters would be like in the age of therapy, WhatsApp, and wellness trends gone rogue.

Joanna Nadin is a former broadcast journalist, political speechwriter and special adviser to the Prime Minister. Since leaving politics she has written numerous books for children and adults, including an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility for younger readers, the Carnegie Medal-nominated Joe All Alone, which is now a BAFTA-winning and Emmy-nominated BBC drama, andthe Flying Fergus series with Sir Chris Hoy. Originally from Essex, she now lives in Bath, and is Associate Professor in Creative Writing at University of Bristol.

My thoughts: this modern day update to the sisters of Pride & Prejudice is fantastic, funny, sad, thoughtful, entertaining and hugely enjoyable. The Bennet sisters are up to date with dating apps, WhatsApp chats and a very different take on the 18th Century.

Lizzy is a doctor with twins who never stop asking questions, juggling a demanding job with parenthood, Jane is contemplating her future and that of Netherfield, Mary is still figuring things out, Kitty might be about to wreck her love life and Lydia is, well, a total mess.

While Mr Bennet takes refuge in his newspaper, Mrs Bennet is still meddling in her daughters’ lives, some things never change.

As the sisters’ year begins, there’s heart break, misunderstandings, arguments, gossip and a trip to Paris which might derail the close knit bond between the five for good.

So much fun, very cleverly done and with real heart, this is a terrific book.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

Steph Harper is on the run. 

When she was five, her mother ran – with Steph and her younger sister in tow – from an abusive husband into the arms of a small Cherokee community, where she hoped they might finally belong. But Steph soon sets her sights as far away as she can get, vowing that she will let nothing interfere with her dream to become an astronaut, and ultimately, to go to the moon.

In Steph’s certainty that only her ambition can save her, she will stretch her bonds with the three women who know and love her most dearly: her younger sister Kayla, an artist whose determination to appear good takes her life to unexpected places; her college girlfriend Della, who strives to reclaim her identity as an adult after being removed from her family as a young girl through a challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act; and her mother Hannah, who has held up her family’s history as a beacon of inspiration to her kids, all the while keeping the truth about her own past a secret.

Told through these women’s interwoven lives, and spanning three decades and several continents, To the Moon and Back is an astounding and expansive coming-of-age novel of mothers and daughters, love and sacrifice, alienation and heartbreak, terror and wonder. At its core, it is the story of the extraordinary lengths one woman will go to find a little space for herself.

Eliana Ramage holds an MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She has received residencies and fellowships from the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center, Lambda Literary, Tin House, and Vermont Studio Center. A citizen of the Cherokee Nation, she lives in Nashville with her family. To the Moon and Back is her first novel.

My thoughts: This is very good, a beautifully written, engaging, intelligent story about family, as complicated as that can be, told through the eyes of two sisters – Steph and Kayla, and their mother Hannah. As well as Steph’s friend Della.

Their lives haven’t been easy, as members of the Cherokee, they live with the memories of the trauma their people suffered over generations. And they have their own too.

Hannah fled her abusive husband with her daughters, from Texas to Oklahoma, hoping to give them more than she had. Her parents threw her out when she was pregnant, and she does her best to love and support them, struggling to express that all the while. 

Steph wants to be an astronaut, it’s her lifelong, obsessive, dream. It takes over at times and damages her relationships with her family, her friends and her girlfriend Della. She works diligently at achieving her goal, studying hard, applying for fellowships and eventually going to Hawaii to live in a simulated environment in an experiment.

But her interpersonal relationships are a mess, she’s bad at expressing her emotions, bad at communicating. Her obsessive plan to go to space overwhelms everything.

I found the relationship dynamics between the characters fascinating, they felt like real people – messy and complicated. The writing is confident and engaging. I don’t know a lot about Native Americans, living in the UK, they’re not something that we’re taught about, so a lot of those parts were interesting too.

It’s a really enjoyable book, and for a debut, is so confident and well written, I can’t wait to see what Ramage writes next.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

Can you imagine it? Can you imagine me there in the front row in Saint Peter’s Square? The lesbian sister of a literal saint.

Brought up in a devout household in Ireland, Jay is now living in London with her girlfriend, determined to live day to day and not think too much about either the future or the past. But when she learns that her beloved older brother, who died in a terrible accident, may be made into a Catholic saint, she realises she must at last confront her family, her childhood and herself . . .

Inspired by the author’s own devout upbringing, Ordinary Saints is a brilliant debut novel from a fresh, exciting new voice which asks – who gets to decide how we are remembered – and who we will become?

Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin was the winner of the inaugural PFD Queer Fiction Prize and was also shortlisted for the Women’s Prize Trust Discoveries Prize in 2022. Her début literary novel Ordinary Saints was shortlisted for the 2025 Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize.

‘Inspired by my own upbringing in a devout family, Ordinary Saints asks how we, particularly as queer people, can reconcile ourselves with the beliefs, communities and selves we’ve had to leave behind. The premise is also based on real events. In October 2020, I read about the beatification of Carlo Acutis, an Italian teenager who is expected to become the first millennial saint. I couldn’t stop thinking about his family and how the cause for canonisation, on top of the grief of losing a son or brother, would affect them. This became the instigating question of my novel and my protagonist ‘the emigrant lesbian sister of a literal saint’ appeared soon afterwards.’ Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin, 2024

My thoughts: This book has an excellent opening line, and is really interesting and a bit funny. Or maybe that’s just me. Jay’s older brother died young in a terrible accident, he was training to be a priest. Jay was a teenager.

Now, thirteen years later, her dad calls and says he might be beatified as a saint. Unbeknownst to her, her parents have been helping to compile proof that he has been responsible for miracles after his death.

Jay is at a loss as to how to deal with this utterly bizarre thing. She’s not much of a Catholic these days, and she cannot get behind the campaign to turn her brother into a saint. She is forced to revisit and examine her relationship with him, and with her parents.

It’s a really interesting premise and while I was raised going to church, the Church of England doesn’t make saints, so this whole concept is mind boggling. The idea that in the 21st century anyone can imagine that there are new saints to be made is just, well, bewildering.

I really enjoyed this book, I empathised with Jay, struggling to reconcile the brother she remembers with the version being presented by the church, worthy of sainthood. The complicated nature of grief, memory and family relationships are all laid bare and Jay has to try to work out whether she can really believe that her brother, someone she isn’t sure she really knew, could really be perfect.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

Booksellers Florrie Appleton and her fiancé Ed are just three weeks away from their dream wedding.

Between hand-selling beloved classics, unveiling Ed’s enchanting window displays and hosting lively book readings with local authors, they’ve managed to plan an intimate ceremony that promises to be everything they’ve ever hoped for – filled with literary delights, lots of laughter and the love of those closest to them.

But when Ed’s mother Dawn arrives unannounced on their doorstep, Florrie’s world is thrown into chaos like confetti. Dawn claims she’s come to help with the wedding preparations, yet she’s never
shown the slightest interest in her son before. As she starts dismissing their carefully curated shelves and snooping around their cosy cottage, Florrie can’t shake the feeling that Dawn’s plans stretch far beyond simply choosing flowers and cake.

With her close-knit group of friends rallying around her and the bookshop’s loyal customers offering support, can Florrie protect her relationship and the bookshop that means everything to them both?

Or will their happily ever after slip through their fingers like pages torn from one of her treasured books?

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Eliza J Scott lives in North Yorkshire with her family and has wanted to be a writer as far back as she can remember. She is inspired by her beautiful surroundings and loves to write heartwarming stories
based on romance and friendship with a generous dollop of community spirit and a hint of humour.

When she’s not writing, Eliza can usually be found with her nose in a book or working in her garden doing a spot of plot wrangling (of the writing variety), and battling against the weeds. The weeds,
unfortunately, are currently winning but Eliza is undeterred. Roses are amongst her favourite flowers and she doesn’t need much of an excuse to visit a plant centre, where a new rose always seems to
mysteriously find its way onto her trolley much to her husband’s astonishment.

Eliza also enjoys having a catch-up with friends over tea and cake, as well as bracing walks in the countryside, rounded off by a visit to a teashop – for yet more tea and cake!

Amazon author page: Eliza J Scott – UK or Eliza J Scott – US
Website: Eliza J Scott
Twitter/X: @ElizaJScott1
Facebook: @elizajscottauthor
Instagram: @elizajscott

Bookbub: @elizajscott
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My thoughts: Florrie and Ed are counting down the days to their wedding, when Ed’s ghastly mother shows up, looking to cause havoc and derail their plans.

She’s still mad that Ed’s grandparents left their bookshop to him and Florrie, and wants to drive a wedge between the couple. Unfortunately for her, they’re strong and can see what she’s up to.

Florrie’s friends have planned a week’s worth of pre-wedding fun, a long and entertaining hen week, with no pig wrangling involved (promise!) It should keep her distracted and hopefully stop any panic about what Ed’s mad mother is up to. 

And then, before they realise, it’s time to say “I do”. 

This is a lovely, funny, fun read, light and entertaining, perfect for unwinding and letting your own worries go for a while.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

Can a great love survive a great deception?

In the wilds of Donegal, Ireland, 1999, Saoirse is an artist living an outwardly idyllic life. Her tender husband Daithí and two beloved daughters are regular subjects for her work, and in them she has found the safe home that she has always longed for. She tends not to talk about her past, and those that love her have learned to accept that the full story is too painful for her to disclose.

When her Dublin exhibition unexpectedly wins a prestigious award that invites a swarm of publicity, Saoirse is left panic stricken. The unanticipated recognition threatens to expose a decade’s worth of buried memories and past crimes. Because what her family and friends don’t know is that Saoirse has been on the run since she was seventeen, she has stolen an identity to survive, and whilst Ireland might now be her home, it wasn’t her first – and now her past life is poised to reclaim her.

Charleen Hurtubise has lived in Dublin, Ireland for over 25 years, having moved from Michigan, USA. She is a teacher and artist as well as a writer, and her short fiction, essays and poetry have appeared in various publications. She holds an MFA Creative Writing from University College Dublin (UCD) where she has also facilitated creative writing modules.

My thoughts: Saoirse has been running from something her whole life, but now she’s found a home, she’s finally safe, but it all might be lost in an instant.

I was utterly hooked by Saoirse’s story, her awful childhood, her attempts to start over, her love for Daithí and her children, her passion for her art. She’s a fascinating character, she’s had to fight for so long, struggle for survival.

It might not be the happiest of stories, but Saoirse is a survivor, a chameleon, changing herself to fit in, to keep going, always living on her nerves. It’s intense but gripping, moving and full of beauty.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

Some houses won’t let go of the past. Some people won’t, either…

When single mum Libby is offered a life-changing sum of money to clear out an old cottage in the woods, she expects dust and decay. She doesn’t expect a house full of secrets, a room full of birds,
and a woman who refuses to leave.

The handsome but stressed architect who hired Libby is also a puzzle. Why can’t Ross empty Elm Cottage himself? What can he possibly see in Libby, who has been burned by love and is wary of attachment? How can they persuade the mysterious but kindly Isobel to move on?

As Libby is pulled into the cottage’s story, she must face up to her own deepest fears. Can she help Isobel, fight the past that haunts her, and learn to open her own heart to love once more?

Jane Lovering’s new novel is a delicious, romantic mystery where secrets, love and healing weave through every page.

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Jane Lovering is the bestselling and award-winning romantic comedy writer who won the RNA Contemporary Romantic Novel Award in 2023 with A Cottage Full of Secrets. She lives in Yorkshire and has a cat and a bonkers terrier, as well as five children who have now left home.

Facebook: @jane.lovering
Twitter: @janelovering
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Bookbub profile: @janelovering

My thoughts: Everyone in this book is struggling with their lives in some way, from Libby who has to find a job and somewhere to live, to architect Ross who has a pretty big deadline to deal with, and Isobel who lives in a falling down cottage with her birds, avoiding contact with people. But somehow, the three of them are going to help each other and find a way to solve some of their problems.

Libby is hired by Ross to encourage Isobel to vacate the cottage he’s bought in order to demolish it and build a fancy eco home on TV. Isobel has lived there a long time, and is very reluctant to leave, it’s her home and her beloved birds know to find her there.

But Libby is dealing with her own demons too, and she doesn’t even realise some of them yet. Her budding friendship with Ross and the bond she’s trying to build with Isobel are helping her get there though.

It’s a bittersweet, not always sunny sort of book, there are damaged people here and Libby in particular needs real help to deal with things. Moving and thought provoking, this was an interesting read that made me think.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

Esther first sees Ted walking in a park in London. They lock eyes and for a fraction of a second, she feels something she’s never felt before.

She starts by reading up about his life in Canada and his work as an actor. Then she watches every interview with him online. It isn’t long before she’s joined Ted’s fan site online where she and the ‘Tedettes’ stalk his every move. When Ted gets a new celebrity girlfriend, Esther decides that things have gone far enough. She leaves her husband, takes all their savings, and buys a one-way ticket to Canada. After all, Ted might not know it yet, but they are meant to be together – he just needs a little bit of persuading.

At its heart, Esther is Now Following You is a fresh, funny and deeply affecting novel about what happens when life gets too much and what we do to cope. It combines the humour of Fleabag and Green Dot’s unattainable obsession, told with the propulsion of Baby Reindeer.

Tanya Sweeney is an Irish journalist, columnist and regular contributor to radio and TV. Her personal columns focus on a variety of subjects including parenting, pregnancy, friendship, culture, and body issues. She currently works on the Weekend magazine at the Irish Independent, and her experience working in the music, film & TV industries helped inspire her debut novel.

My thoughts: Esther becomes obsessed with an actor called Ted during a difficult and distressing time in her life, she channels all her grief and pain into the parasocial relationship in her head. Unfortunately she takes it way too far. Moving to Toronto on a whim and inserting herself into the life of Ted’s sister in a bid to get closer to him. 

She’s actually a rather sweet person, is Esther, but dealing with something very difficult and running away from her problems, which I know from bitter experience never works. She doesn’t have much of a support network and that means she creates this whole other life in her head, thinking that somehow it will all be better if she and Ted were a couple.

I did want to give a shake and a talking too at times, but I also really felt for her. Things happen to us that feel way too big and scary, so we run. I completely understand and for the most part a harmless imaginary life of celebrity adjacent happiness is an idle fantasy. Just don’t do an Esther and decide to make it a reality.

Darkly comic and heartfelt, this was a really interesting and oddly enjoyable book that I would suggest avoiding if you’re dealing with anything like Esther is (content warning: child loss, stillbirth) and it’s too raw but otherwise do read this to remind yourself, if nothing else, that boundaries are important and your favourite actor doesn’t even know your name, but depending on how obsessive you are, they do know your Twitter handle.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

If poor Harry Jones hadn’t lowered himself into the water one freezing winter’s night, a long-buried secret would never have come to the surface.

If …

Big Ed and Milly had been able to have children, Karen hadn’t longed for love and romance, Lorrie hadn’t finally ditched Petra, Dinah hadn’t found out the truth about Barry, Jed hadn’t dealt drugs and got Anna pregnant, Carl Thomson hadn’t come looking for him, and Moses hadn’t heard the commotion …

then there would be no story of Vixens Mere to tell.

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Kit Fielding plans and writes his novels in a motorhome at various locations around the country.
The feeling of impermanence is natural to him due to his mother’s traveller roots and a childhood succession of tied-cottages accommodation in different parts of England.
Kit Fielding says that there was always a curiosity about what was waiting, or was lurking, just around the corner. This legacy has stayed with him to the present day and it feeds into his work.

Insta: @inkspotpub FB: Inkspotpublishing

My thoughts: This is the story of the residents of Vixens Mere, a mooring of canal boats next to a farm, Foxes Farm. Over the course of a winter the residents’ lives will be altered by death, by secrets coming to the surface (quite literally in one case) and dark deeds done for the right reasons.

Big Ed and Milly are a permanent fixture on the canal, they’ve lived there since a life of travelling came to an end, their son Moses lives with them, sometimes he helps his dad, sometimes he goes to school. A project about his family tree stirs up old worries for his parents.

There are several other boats moored alongside them, some permanent, some only there for a season. Their lives interweave and connect over the years and come together once more, some after a long time.

It’s an interesting mix of people, from Lorrie, who’s fleeing a long term relationship gone bad, to Jed who has always lived on his barge, first with his parents and now with girlfriend Anna, then there’s Pete, who works at the pig farm and lives on a boat called Saddleback (a breed of pig – although it was called that before he moved in), then there’s Karen and her deeply troubled former soldier husband Harry, they come by once a year.

Finally there’s Brodie and his dog Mick, Scottish but raised on the road by his grandmother, he hasn’t come by Vixens Mere in some time, but his presence is a catalyst for some of the secrets of this quiet backwater to be revealed.

It was an interesting read, with an intriguing mix of characters, all from different walks of life, living in this quiet place.

Giveaway to Win 3 x Stacks of 5 Inkspot Publishing books (UK Only)

Win 3 x Stacks of 5 Inkspot Publishing books (UK Only)

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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