Tag: contemporary fiction

Finding out her husband of over twenty years is cheating on her? Check.
Laid off from her job the very same day? Check.

Ari had a very bad day and flees to Moonshire Bay to relax, heal and figure out what she really wants. At least she knows what she doesn’t want – a relationship.Jack Callahan has been playing it safe in all aspects of his life after a failed business and a horrible misjudgement of someone’s character. Living in Moonshire Bay allows him to coast through life with his shields up and blinders on. So what happens when Jack and Ari start working on a project together? Can their newfound friendship and attraction overcome their lack of trust?

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Elle Sweet is the pen name of mystery author Laina Turner.

I started writing ten years ago, and it was always my intent and desire to write romance. However, in my first book, someone died. It just happened and turned the romance into a mystery.Twenty-some books later, and I decided enough was enough. I was going to do what I’d initially set out to do at the start of my writing journey. Write a book where no one died (It’s not as easy as you think). I can’t tell you how much fun I had writing Finding Rachel and the three others set in the small town of Moonshire Bay. Finding Rachel is out now and Ari’s Adventure will release in spring of 2020 with the third book set to follow in the early summer of 2020. How did I come up with my pen name? Elle for the “L” in Laina and Sweet was my grandfather’s last name. I wanted something that had a story. I originally wanted to call myself LuluBell after a pet cow I once had, but the family shot that one down.Born and raised in the midwest, I live in Indiana with my husband, three amazing children, and our dogs Duke and Macy.

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My thoughts:

This was a sweet and short read about finding your feet and moving on after the things you thought were secure end. Ari loses her job and her cheating husband at the same time, but a summer spent at a friend’s house in a small town bring new opportunities in love and life.

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

Amber can’t get Patrick out of her mind. Night after night he haunts her dreams . . . teasing her . . . pleasuring her . . . owning her body . . . until her alarm rings. Left unsatisfied night after night, she devises a plan to bring her fantasies to life—with a platinum wig, blue contact lenses, and a new persona.

Stay-at-home mom Debra adores her husband, but wishes for a little more spice and adventure in her life. She’s not even sure she’s ever had an orgasm! But when tragedy strikes, her dreams come true in ways she never imagined…or wanted.

Despite a hard life as a single black Muslim mother, up-and-coming fashion designer Zya finally has a successful business and a sense of security, despite the increasing persecution she and her daughter experience. But then a mysterious stranger comes into her life, challenging everything she thought she knew about love. But can it be real?

Gorgeous Dominque likes sex—wild, kinky, and lots of it. Secretly longing for something real and lasting, she settles for less, burying her insecurity and self-doubt between late night trysts and anemia. But before long, she’s forced to face her fears, or succumb to them.

Four friends…each hiding behind a façade. But as fantasy clashes with reality, things aren’t always as they appear.

After 35+ years in operations for various businesses (including her own), Melody pursued her dream of writing a novel. Having written for business publications, local magazines and even publishing a poem, Chemo’s not for Sissies, during treatment after her first cancer diagnosis, it was time to finish the novel that was started many years ago. When she started writing, “Facade: Things Aren’t Always as They Appear,” she had no idea where her characters were going to take her. “The story basically wrote itself. It was like a movie projector playing in my mind,” is how she describes her experience. It soon became apparent, their voices were not to be silenced… “The Unbroken Series” was born. “Deja Vu: Here We Go Again,” Book II, to be released June 23, 2020, followed by C’est la Vie, Book III, in December.

Melody lives with her husband in her native home state Florida. She’s blessed to be alive today after two cancer diagnoses and enjoys watching her grandchildren grow up; something she doesn’t take for granted.

My thoughts:

Four friends with complicated lives, dealing with death, love, business and finding their places in the world.

A lot happens in their lives and I got a bit muddled up at one point about what was happening but that’s just me. There are three more books in the series to come and hopefully room for the characters to grow and develop further.

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

There’s nothing like being told that in three months you’ll be dead to make you think about what you really want in life.

Jennifer Cole has just been told that she has a terminal blood disorder and has just three months to live–ninety days to say goodbye to friends and family, and to put her affairs in order. Ninety days to come to terms with a diagnosis that is unfair, unexpected, and completely unpronounceable. Focusing on the positives (she won’t have to go on in a world without Bowie or Maya Angelou; she won’t get Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s like her parents, or have teeth that flop out at the mere mention of the word apple), Jennifer realizes she only has one real regret: the relationships she’s lost.
Rather than running off to complete a frantic bucket list, Jennifer chooses to stay put and write a letter to the three most significant people in her life, to say the things she wished she’d said before but never dared: her overbearing, selfish sister, her jelly-spined, cheating ex-husband, and her charming, unreliable ex-boyfriend–and finally tell them the truth.
At first, Jennifer feels cleansed by her catharsis. Liberated, even. Her ex-boyfriend rushes to her side and she even starts to build bridges with her sister Isabelle (that is, once Isabelle’s confirmed that Jennifer’s condition isn’t genetic). But once you start telling the truth, it’s hard to stop. And as Jennifer soon discovers, the truth isn’t always as straightforward as it seems, and death has a way of surprising you….

My thoughts:

This was a funny wry book about death, or life.

Getting the news that you’ve got three months to live would probably affect different people in different ways, Jennifer decides to build some bridges, burn some others and generally do things her way for once.

A clever, witty look at truth telling and learning to live for now, I found this reaffirming and genuinely enjoyable reading.

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

It was meant to be the party of the summer…

In Cedar Road, everyone is preparing for Lexi’s ‘White Hot’ summer party. For one night, parking squabbles and petitions are put aside as neighbours sip Prosecco under the fairy lights and gather by the hot tub to marvel at Lexi’s effortlessly glamorous life with Hot Hamish.

For Julia, it’s a chance to coax husband Charlie out of his potting shed and into a shirt so they can have a welcome break from the hellish house renovation they’ve been wrestling with. And it’s a chance for Julia to pretend – just for a night – that her life is as perfect as Lexi’s.

But when, during the party, one of Julia’s WhatsApp messages falls into the wrong hands and reveals her most intimate thoughts, things reach boiling point…

And when all the neighbours know exactly what you’re thinking, there’s only one thing to do.

Run away.

It’s going to be a summer Julia will never forget…

My thoughts:

The women at the White Party reminded me of high school girls – grow up! I can’t really understand why Julia was so desperate to be in with them. Amber was a way more interesting character and their adventure in France is a whole lot of fun.

The best beach read I’ve read recently, although I read it on the sofa because lockdown means stay off the beach!

A fun, crazy adventure in a dodgy van with antiques and secrets popping up everywhere.

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

People disappear when they most want to be seen.

Jess Walker, middle child of a middle-class family, has perfected the art of vanishing in plain sight. But when she arrives at a concrete university campus under flat, grey, East Anglian skies, her world flares with colour.

Drawn into a tightly-knit group of rule breakers – led by their maverick teacher, Lorna Clay – Jess begins to experiment with a new version of herself. But the dynamic between the friends begins to darken as they share secrets, lovers and finally a tragedy. Soon Jess is thrown up against the question she fears most: what is the true cost of an extraordinary life?

Kate Weinberg was born and lives in London. She studied English at Oxford and creative writing in East Anglia. She has worked as a slush pile reader, a bookshop assistant, a journalist and a ghost writer.

The Truants is her first novel.

My thoughts:

Drawn into the spell of an influential lecturer at university, Jess finds herself in the middle of several tragic overlapping love affairs and as she unravels the mysteries, others begin to fall apart around her.

This was interesting, instead of the usual Svengali like older man, this centres around an older woman who draws students into her orbit and as Jess is warned, destroys them.

The plot travels from East Anglia to a remote Italian mountainside as Jess follows in Lorna’s wake.

The writing is sharp and flows beautifully on the page, the plot compelling with a woozy dreamlike quality that is dispelled as Jess’ eyes are opened.

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

Sometimes the best holidays are the ones you least expect…

After a long and turbulent year, Sarah is dreaming of the five-star getaway her sister has booked them on. White sands, cocktails, massages, the Caribbean is calling to them.

But the sisters turn up to tatty beaches, basic wooden shacks, a compost toilet and outdoor cold water showers. It turns out that at the last minute Amy decided a conservation project would be much more fun than a luxury resort.

So now Sarah’s battling mosquitos, trying to stomach fish soup and praying for a swift escape. Life on a desert island though isn’t all doom and gloom. They’re at one with nature, learning about each other and making new friends. And Sarah is distracted by the dishy, yet incredibly moody, island leader she’s sure is hiding a secret.

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