Tag: rom com

An uplifting story about fresh starts, new beginnings and the power of stories, from the bestselling author of Rosie’s Travelling Tea Shop!
When Elodie applies for the job of librarian in peaceful Willow Grove, she’s looking forward to a new start. As the daughter of a media empire, her every move has been watched for years, and she longs to work with the thing she loves most: books.
It’s a chance to make a real difference too, because she soon realises that there are other people in Willow Grove who might need a fresh start – like the homeless man everyone walks past without seeing, or the divorcée who can’t seem to escape her former husband’s misdeeds.
Together with local journalist Finn, Elodie decides these people have stories that need sharing. What if instead of borrowing books readers could ‘borrow’ a person, and hear the life stories of those they’ve overlooked?
But Elodie isn’t quite sharing her whole story either. As the story of the library’s new success grows, will her own secret be revealed?

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Rebecca Raisin writes heartwarming romance from her home in sunny Perth, Australia.
Her heroines tend to be on the quirky side and her books are usually set in exotic locations so her readers can armchair travel any day of the week. The only downfall about writing about gorgeous
heroes who have brains as well as brawn, is falling in love with them – just as well they’re fictional.
Rebecca aims to write characters you can see yourself being friends with. People with big hearts who care about relationships and believe in true, once in a lifetime love. Her bestselling novel
Rosie’s Travelling Tea Shop has been optioned for film with MRC studios and Frolic Media.

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My thoughts: Elodie is hired to reinvigorate a library – one she visited as a child. But she’s keeping a secret and her wealthy family at arms length. She wants to do this on her own, no family money, no media, no red carpets.

Her ideas are innovative and fun – I liked the idea of “borrowing” a person and hearing their life story. Unfortunately not everyone feels the same way. And there’s a dishy local journalist she’s hoping to kiss.

A sweet, fun and funny book about not judging a book by its cover and a person by what local gossips have to say.

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

As a flight to St Lucia leaves the runway, four passengers meet for the first time.
After escaping her controlling husband, Bernadette Manson is taking the first extravagant holiday of her new life. But when her best friend cancels, will she be strong enough to fly solo?
Tadgh Donovan is about to jet off to his destination wedding when he sees a shocking text. Has his bride-to-be written her wedding vows… or already broken them?
Hayley Ford is the wife of a top fertility specialist yet her battle to get pregnant has almost broken her marriage. Can a trip to the sun heal their relationship or should she brace for a crash landing?
Dev Robbins is crossing oceans to track down the woman he fell in love with at first sight. Will it be a one way trip to happy ever after or a return journey to singledom?
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Shari Low is the #1 bestselling author of over 30 novels, including My One Month Marriage and One Summer Sunrise and a collection of parenthood memories called Because Mummy Said So. She lives near Glasgow.

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My thoughts: this was lots of fun, set mostly on a plane between Gatwick and Saint Lucia, four strangers are thrown together and during the flight share their secrets and worries, forming a bond like no other.

From Bernadette, determined to enjoy the rest of her life, to Dev who thinks he’s found The One on a one night stand, all 4 need some love and some advice from their new pals.

Funny, entertaining and charming, this is classic Shari Low and perfect for reading while lazing by the pool or on the sofa.

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

A chance encounter in New York City. 

A great love story on the cusp of beginning. And then he was gone.

For Lara and her daughter Eliza, it has always been just the two of them. But when Eliza turns eighteen and wants to connect with her father, Lara is forced to admit a secret that she has been keeping from her daughter her whole life. Eliza needs answers – and so does Lara. Their journey to the truth will take them on a road trip across England and eventually to New York, where it all began. Dreams might have been broken and opportunities missed, but there are still surprises in store… 

Anything Could Happen is a warm, wise, funny and uplifting novel about love, second chances and the unexpected and extraordinary paths life can take us down.

My thoughts: this is a rather lovely story. All about second chances, family and finding where you’re meant to be.

After a brief romance in New York, Lara and Ben are separated by an unfortunate turn of events. 18 years later they are reunited. Is that spark still there?

I loved Lara and her kind but firm driving instructor ways, the way she worried about her clients, and her daughter. She had such a good heart. Ben was also rather sweet, with his map shop and a million (ok, three) sisters.

But Eliza was my favourite character – I wasn’t a particularly happy 18 year old but if I could do it again, I’d want to be as hopeful and sunny as Eliza was. Her one magical night in New York was funny and uplifting.

A fun, will they, won’t they, rom com with lots of heart.

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

A new start is about to bee-gin!
Having moved into her mum’s spare room after a disastrous break-up, Kayleigh Harwood is desperate for a fresh start. When she sees an opening for a new beekeeper at the old manor house
at Elderflower Grove she jumps at the chance – despite not knowing a thing about bees…
The abandoned house holds a mystery of its own – the previous owner vanished years ago – and locals have been inventing stories about the manor ever since. Unable to resist the urge to look around, Kayleigh is shocked to find drop-dead-gorgeous gardener Carey living inside!
Carey explains that the house and surrounding land is at risk of being demolished, endangering the bees, and he has been staying there to protect it.
Convinced the secret of the house holds the key to saving Elderflower Grove’s bees, Kayleigh is prepared to do everything she can to help. But is she ready to find her own happy-ever-after too…?

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Jaimie is a 36-year-old English-sounding Welsh girl with an awkward-to-spell name. She lives in South Wales and enjoys writing, gardening, watching horror movies, and drinking tea, although she’s
seriously considering marrying her coffee machine. She loves autumn and winter, and singing songs from musicals despite the fact she’s got the voice of a dying hyena. She hates spiders, hot weather,
and cheese & onion crisps. She spends far too much time on Twitter and owns too many pairs of boots. She will never have time to read all the books she wants to read.
She is the author of several romantic comedies for HarperCollins – The Chateau of Happily Ever Afters, The Little Wedding Island, It’s a Wonderful Night, The Little Vintage Carousel by the Sea, Snowflakes at the Little Christmas Tree Farm, The Little Bookshop of Love Stories, The Wishing Tree Beside the Shore, The Little Christmas Shop on Nutcracker Lane, The Post Box at the North Pole, and The Beekeeper at Elderflower Grove.

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My thoughts: I like bees, but I don’t think I could be a beekeeper like Kayleigh, they’re fine at a distance. But this was a lovely story about bees yes, but also about love, the past, and saving the natural world for the next generation, and the bees.

Kayleigh and Carey investigate the mystery of Elderflower Grove’s last resident, and the love letters they found in a secret room behind a bookcase. It was very much the sort of adventure I’d love to have. There’s a moment that brought back the trauma of My Girl, so be prepared.

There’s also lots of bee puns, a furious old lady who dresses as a bee, Kayleigh’s mum’s boyfriends, a friendly fox and the grounds are basically The Secret Garden all over again. Lovely.

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

When Simon reconnects with his first love Sylvie – the French pen pal he never met – he is determined to not let her go again.

Life may not be as straight-forward at sixty as it was at sixteen, but that won’t stop him.

Together with old school friend Ian, he sets off on the same bike ride – from Bristol to Bordeaux – that they attempted all those years ago.

But while they now have better bikes, more acceptable haircuts, and Google Maps, some things never change.

And it soon becomes clear that this trip will have even more bumps in the road than the first . . .

My thoughts: this was really fun, a clever road trip rom com, told from the male perspective and written by a man too. Which I really liked. Simon is 60, single after the death of his wife ten years before, running a very stressful B&B and in need of a change.

After an old school friend dies (I promise this book isn’t sad, there’s several laugh out loud moments) he and old pal Ian, decide to recreate a madcap adventure they had as boys and cycle to Bordeaux. Becoming MAMILs in the process (Middle Aged Men in Lycra – fetching, not!). They almost die a few times, and honestly it’s hilarious – there’s a bit where they camp out in a church and accidentally flash a congregation of French villagers and the priest.

I think the romance of letters, then emails, between Simon and Sylvie is very sweet but the real relationship here is the rekindled friendship between Simon and Ian – a bromance if you will. As they remember their teenage years, apologise for some terrible behaviour and bond in their adventures. There’s something very precious about friendships that last a lifetime, even when you don’t see each other for forty odd years in the middle.

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