Tag: contemporary fiction

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life – Dani Jansen*

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Alison Green, desperate valedictorian-wannabe, agrees to produce her school’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. That’s her first big mistake. The second is accidentally saying Yes to a date with her oldest friend, Jack, even though she’s crushing on Charlotte. Alison manages to stay positive, even when her best friend starts referring to the play as “Ye Olde Shakespearean Disaster.” Alison must cope with the misadventures that befall the play if she’s going to survive the year. She’ll also have to grapple with what it means to be “out” and what she might be willing to give up for love.

Alison manages to stay positive, even when her best friend starts referring to the play as “Ye Olde Shakespearean Disaster.” Alison must cope with the misadventures that befall the play if she’s going to survive the year. She’ll also have to grapple with what it means to be “out” and what she might be willing to give up for love.

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Dani Jansen is a teacher and writer who lives in Montreal. She should probably be embarrassed to admit that she has performed as part of her school’s Glee Club for eight years. She should probably also be ashamed to tell people that she named her cats after punctuation symbols (Ampersand and Em-Dash, in case you’re curious).

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My thoughts:

I am a recovering theatre kid so this book spoke to me on so many levels. I have been involved in shows where things can go wrong, as an extra I once stood on an actor’s stomach and thought I’d injured her badly (Romeo & Juliet 70s punk style, she was on the floor and I had to jump off a box and she wasn’t supposed to be there, then I fell off the stage and almost landed on the mayor!), then there was the year our leading man got stoned on opening night and couldn’t remember his lines in front of the headmaster, mayor and other local notables – as stage manager I had to stop our director/drama teacher from killing him during the interval. Basically I’ve seen a lot of drama on stage and off.

So I empathised massively with Alison, producing her school’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, when an actor quits, her costume designer has a relationship malfunction and she gets threatened by the theatre mafia!

This book was a total hoot, I was laughing out loud at times (cue some strange looks from my very own Mr Shakespeare, my husband (yes that is our last name)) and cheering Alison on as she went on a date with the hot girl of her dreams (and corgi lover), Charlotte.

I highly recommend this book to any theatre kids out there, or anyone who loves funny, entertaining books with heart.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Charlotte McGee – Annabelle Lewis*

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A family of billionaire grifters. A girl seeking true love. A con she didn’t see coming. Beautiful, sensitive Charlotte never fit in her family of American grifters.

Determined to make her own way in the world, she sets out for New York City with a new identity, certain no one will discover that she’s a Carrows. Wealthy. Powerful. Elite.

With anonymity comes the freedom to love. And to be loved for herself, not her money. She finds that in David Torres, her college boyfriend at NYU. But what will David do once he discovers he’s been dating a Carrows? Nothing good.

The heartbreaking devastation that David brings leaves Charlotte estranged from her family and alone. Or so she thinks.

With her mother’s help, they set out to right a grievous wrong.

Can they repair their broken family? Can they bring David to justice?

Charlotte McGee is the first book in the Carrows Family Chronicles series of billionaire romance suspense novels.

If you like exciting capers filled with glamour and romance, Book One will leave you delighted and eager for more!

Annabelle Lewis lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota

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My thoughts:

This was a fun read about family, revenge and being yourself. Charlotte is ashamed of her wealthy family of grifters and changes her last name so she isn’t immediately connected to them.

Moving to New York for college gives her a new start and she falls in love with David, an inspiring artist.

David isn’t as innocent as he thinks and takes advantage of Charlotte and her family.

Several years later the Carrows decide to fix things and go after David.

I enjoyed this story and really liked Charlotte and Pinky, less so Carey and Henry.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Telephone Road – Ann Swann*

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Marlena caught the eye of one of the richest, hottest guys on campus, Preston. But when her attention shifts, and she falls in love with a hometown boy, Jimmy, she finds out that Preston is also deeply disturbed.

What follows is a life-changing evening out on Telephone Road, and Marlena knows she will never be the same when she takes matters into her own hands.

Justice has a new meaning. It’s called revenge.

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Ann has been a writer since junior high, but to pay the bills she has waited tables, delivered newspapers, cleaned other people’s houses, taught school, and had a stint as a secretary in a rock-n-roll radio station.

She also worked as a 911 operator and a police dispatcher.

Her fiction began to win awards during her college days. Since then she’s published several short stories, novels, and novellas. She’s always reading and always writing, but even if she never sold another story, Ann would not stop writing. For her it’s a necessity, like breathing. Most of the time, it even keeps her sane.

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My thoughts:

This is a powerful story about surviving a terrible crime and finding a way to rebuild and move on.

Marlena has a strong support system of family and friends around her and their strength helps her recover and rebuild her life after being assaulted, but her assailant remains free so she decides to fight back.

Moving and at times shocking, Telephone Road stays with you long after the last page.

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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Our Story – Miranda Dickinson*

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Otty has just landed her dream job. She’s about to join the writing team of one of the most respected showrunners in TV. And then the night before her first day, she’s evicted from her flat.

Joe has been working with Russell for years. He’s the best writer on his team, but lately something has been off. He’s trying to get his mojo back, but when his flatmate moves out without warning he has other things to worry about.

Otty moving into Joe’s house seems like the perfect solution to both their problems, but neither is prepared for what happens next. Paired together in the writing room, their obvious chemistry sparks from the page and they are the writing duo to beat. But their relationship off the page is an entirely different story, and neither of them can figure out why.

And suddenly the question isn’t, will they, or won’t they? It’s why won’t they?

An epic and modern love story for our times, we will all see ourselves reflected in Otty and Joe. We are our own biggest barriers and this novel explores what happens when we get out of our own way. And it is glorious.

My thoughts:

This could be Netflix’s newest rom com, a perfect friends to lovers, slow burn, audience rooting for them, stop dating the wrong people, story.

I loved Otty and Joe, they felt like real people, making mistakes, worrying about messing up their friendship, trying to be all things, just like the rest of us.

Funny, sad, enjoyable and entertaining. I read this during a recent rainy day, curled up on the sofa, which I definitely think is what this book is made for.


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

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: A Match Made in Heaven – edited by Claire Chambers, Nafhesa Ali, Richard Phillips*

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Star-studded and beautifully written, this collection of diverse stories about love and desire by South Asian-heritage British Muslim women authors, including Ayisha Malik and Shelina Janmohamed.

Although outsiders often expect Muslim women to be timid, conservative, or submissive, the reality is different. While some of these authors express a quiet piety and explore poignant situations, others use black humour and biting satire, or play with possibilities.

Still others shade into the territory of a Muslim Fifty Shades of Grey, creating grey areas where the mainstream media sees only black and white. If grooming-gang scandals grab headlines, characters are more scandalized by suitors’ sloppy personal grooming.

Finding the right crimson lipstick for a date or the perfect power outfit for meeting a cheating ex-husband are commoner preoccupations than the news.

Stylish but far from shallow, the stories also reflect on migration, racism, arranged marriage, gender differences, lesbian desire, bearding, and many other subjects.

ABOUT THE EDITORS

Claire Chambers teaches postcolonial literature the University of York. Her fascination with Muslim South Asia was sparked by a teenage year spent in Peshawar.

Nafhesa Ali is a sociologist and the lead postdoctoral researcher for the Storying Relationship project at Sheffield University. She researches gender, age, the life course, and methods.

Richard Phillips is a geographer and Storying Relationships’ principal investigator at Sheffield University. His research interests include contemporary multiculturalism and the world after Empire.

All three authors live in the UK.

My thoughts:

This was an interesting collection of short stories centred around love and the Muslim perspective, as written by women living in the UK.

Some of the stories are funny, some sad, one has a possibly demonic cat determined to cause chaos. Some of them made me think about my friends and the conversations we’ve had about sex and relationships.

There’s this weird belief that Muslim women have no agency of their own, and that they’re under mens’ thumbs, clad in hijab and niqab against their will and it jars so harshly against reality.

My Muslim friends are clever, funny, weird, silly and completely normal. Their religion doesn’t dictate their lives, some of them are married, some aren’t. Even among the married ones some chose their own spouse and others went for an arranged marriage (and unlike some people believe, they had a say).

Collections like this one help to redress the balance against the strange stereotype of Muslim women. Showing different facets of life, from writing erotica to pay the bills, finding a (second or third) husband, fending off annoying relatives or buying the perfect red lipstick.

Universal experiences that anyone can relate to, regardless of religion, bring us closer together and help foster better understanding and relationships.

I really enjoyed this book and have some new authors to investigate (although I spotted some familiar names amongst the included writers). The project that spawned this collection sounds really interesting and I hope similar ones produce more enjoyable and enlightening reads.

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

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Book Review: The Thursday Murder Club – Richard Osman

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I was gifted a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley with no requirement to review.

Four septuagenarians with a few tricks up their sleeves
A female cop with her first big case
A brutal murder
Welcome to…
THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves The Thursday Murder Club.

When a local developer is found dead with a mysterious photograph left next to the body, the Thursday Murder Club suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case.

As the bodies begin to pile up, can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer, before it’s too late?

My thoughts:

This book was brilliant. Funny, smart, intriguing (insert superlatives here). I thought it was just excellent basically.
The plotting was clever, the characters very enjoyable, all the little side narratives added and not subtracted from the main plot, building a more complete world.
My husband more than once looked at me like I’d gone nuts, that’s how much I was laughing.

I really hope this is the start of a series with the Thursday Murder Club solving as many crimes as possible.

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Book Review: Camp – L.C. Rosen

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I was gifted a copy by the publisher with no requirement to review.

Sixteen-year-old Randy Kapplehoff loves spending the summer at Camp Outland, a camp for queer teens. It’s where he met his best friends. It’s where he takes to the stage in the big musical. And it’s where he fell for Hudson Aaronson-Lim – who’s only into straight-acting guys and barely knows not-at-all-straight-acting Randy even exists.

This year, though, it’s going to be different. Randy has reinvented himself as ‘Del’ – buff, masculine and on the market. Even if it means giving up show tunes, nail polish and his unicorn bedsheets, he’s determined to get Hudson to fall for him.

But as he and Hudson grow closer, Randy has to ask himself how much is he willing to change for love. And is it really love anyway, if Hudson doesn’t know who he truly is?

My thoughts:

One of my favourite films is an indie called Camp, which is about an arts camp with a drag queen coming into their own and Anna Kendricks as a rather evil young woman, determined to be the star.

This book reminded me of that in more than just the title, because this book is also set at summer camp and is also full of joy.

There’s a love story, there’s learning to be yourself and embrace it, there’s so much hope for the future and there’s a group of wonderful, funny, talented friends at its core.

We dont really have summer camps in the UK in the same way as the US, so most of my knowledge comes from books and TV (Lumberjanes and Wet Hot American Summer are my favourites), but I worked at a summer playscheme (a sort of day camp) for 3 years and it was the best job I have ever had.

Anyway, I loved this book, it’s very upbeat and fun, and I think I would have loved this camp.

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Blog Tour: Unravelled – Briony Marshall*

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“For crying out loud! I can’t even cast on now.“

Claire has never unravelled anything before, being a confident knitter. But now, to her dismay, everything she creates is a disaster, riddled with dropped stitches and glaring holes. It’s almost as if her hands have a mind of their own. Maybe it’s because her longest relationship to date has just ended, or perhaps it has something to do with the fact her career is on the ropes.

“Don’t get frustrated with your needles! The problem lies with the knitter, not the knitting,” said Adrian, owner of Oddballs wool shop. Following his advice, in the desperate hope it will cure her woolly woes, Claire begins to turn her life around. Her grand plan involves FishTank, the online dating site. She convinces Adrian that if they sign up and find love, their problems will be solved (and she’ll have at least one area of her life sorted!). The trouble starts when he has far more luck in the romance department than she does.

But it’s little wonder Claire can’t throw herself into dating. She’s already found her perfect match.

A must-read for avid knitters and those with a passion for crafting, this comical yarn will melt any reader’s heart.

Will they? Won’t they? Romance enthusiasts will be rooting for the pair to be knitted together, forever!

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Briony Marshall is an author from the West Midlands in the UK. She is a graduate of the University of Wolverhampton with a degree in ‘Creative and Professional Writing with English’. Briony currently lives at home with her mum, dad, fiancé and fur brother: Bob the Dog. When Briony is not writing, she’s crafting, and when she’s not crafting, she’s drinking coffee.

My thoughts:

A rom-com with needles and yarn!

I can’t knit to save my life but it brings Claire and Adrian together, and introduces her to the Stitch & Bitches too.

This is the story of what to do when The One turns out to be a zero and everything seems to be falling apart. Including your knitting.

A really fun, enjoyable read with a happy ending, something I really need sometimes.

*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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Blog Tour: We Just Clicked- Anna Bell*

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Izzy’s always played by the rules. But now, it’s time to break them…

Izzy Brown has always dreamed of making it big on Instagram, but her followers just aren’t growing. So when her colleague and fellow ‘influencer’ Luke suggests they fake date to boost their profiles, Izzy says yes – against her better judgement. Now Izzy’s profile shows a confident, glamorous thirty-something with the perfect boyfriend, and her followers are shooting up by the thousands.

So what if behind the scenes, things are a little different? Izzy can’t stop bickering with Luke, his habit of checking his quiff in EVERY SINGLE mirror is driving her insane, and she’s hiding a secret heartache. But everyone tells a few fibs on social media, right?

Then Izzy runs into Aidan, the mysterious stranger who saved her the day her world fell apart two years ago – and major sparks start to fly. Izzy’s sure she can have the online success she’s always dreamed of, whilst falling in love in real life. After all, Aidan doesn’t use social media… what could possibly go wrong?

My thoughts:

A fun, entertaining rom com of a novel about falling in love, the perils of social media and why you really should stick to the truth.

This was a lovely, enjoyable read, perfect for when you want something light and pleasurable to read before bed, in the bath, or slumped on the sofa needing distraction from post-lockdown worries. *I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

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Book Review: Even If We Break – Marieke Nijkamp

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I was gifted a copy of this book by the publisher via Netgalley with no requirement to review.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Marieke Nijkamp comes a shocking new thriller about a group of friends tied together by a game and the deadly weekend that tears them apart.

FIVE friends go to a cabin.
FOUR of them are hiding secrets.
THREE years of history bind them.
TWO are doomed from the start.
ONE person wants to end this.
NO ONE IS SAFE.

Are you ready to play?

My thoughts:

I don’t really know what to say about this book except it was so powerful and moving that I sat after reading it in stunned silence.
It had such a massive impact on me that I find it hard to articulate. As someone who has recently come out as non-binary, and who is disabled and autistic, seeing facets of myself on the page was profound.

The story of broken and breaking friendships resonated as well, we’ve all lost friends that once meant everything to us, my best friend of 20 years told me she never wanted to hear from me again and that was genuinely heartbreaking.

There is also new love fluttering in the pages of this book, like the butterfly at the bottom of Pandora’s Box. The hope and opportunity for renewal it brings is ultimately redemptive and a reason for the characters to fight on.

This book was genuinely the most incredibly powerful and moving that I’ve read in quite some time.