Tag: rom com

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Married at First Swipe – Claire Frost*

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Hannah lives life on the edge. Never one to pass up on a new adventure, she has truly been living her best life. But once the adrenaline wears off, she wishes she had someone to spend the quieter moments with too. Learning that her best friend’s online dating business has taken a hit, she comes up with an idea that just might solve both of their problems…

Jess has been with her husband for twenty years. They have a stable marriage, great kids and run their own businesses. But what looks like a perfect life from the outside has its own problems within, and with her business on the brink Jess can’t help but wonder where the spark has gone in her life, and whether settling down is all it’s cracked up to be.

When Hannah embarks upon her latest scheme: finding a man using Jess’s dating app and meeting him for the first time at the altar, both women start to realise the grass isn’t always greener. Can Hannah help her friend save her failing business or will Jess stop her from making what could be the biggest mistake of her life? In the modern tech-fuelled world of dating, is it possible to find true love?

Claire Frost grew up in Manchester, the middle of three sisters. She always wanted to do a job that involved writing, so after studying Classics at Bristol University she started working in magazines.

For the last 10 years she’s been at The Sun On Sunday’s Fabulous magazine, where she is Assistant Editor and also responsible for the title’s book reviews. She can mostly be found at her desk buried under a teetering TBR pile.

Her first book, Living My Best Life, was published in 2019.

My thoughts:

I’ve never used a dating app, I met my husband at work, but my cousin met her husband on one and now they’re having a baby, so it works for some.

However she didn’t go as far as Hannah and Jess do when they run a promotion for their app – Save the Date. Hannah agrees to marry the first person Jess matches her with.

But then she has to get to know her new husband, Toby, and find out whether they can actually be married, which is a lot harder than just having a wedding.

This was a fun read, I liked Hannah and Jess as characters a lot, they felt real and familiar. Hannah’s impulsiveness and Jess’ own struggles with her family, her relationship and her business were genuine and realistic.


*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: What Now? – Shari Low*

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Read my review of What If?

The follow-up sequel to the bestselling ‘What If?’ from Shari Low
Twenty years ago, Carly Cooper went on an epic quest to track down all the men she’d ever loved and lost in the hope that one of them was her Mr Right.

Now, two decades and two teenage sons later, she thinks she might have got it all wrong.
As the years have passed, lots of things have changed, leaving Carly asking ‘What Now?’

With a divorce and an empty nest on the horizon, Carly sets off once more to Los Angeles with her band of trusty girlfriends, to find the carefree, wild and adventurous Carly Cooper that she used to be.

On this latest quest, Carly discovers a few home truths and has to decide If her marriage is worth saving or is there a new happy-ever-after out there, just waiting for her…

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Shari Low is the #1 bestselling author of over 25 novels, including One Day In Summer and My One Month Marriage and a collection of parenthood memories called Because Mummy Said So.

She lives near Glasgow.

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My thoughts:

This was brilliant fun. Picking up twenty years after the end of What If? we join Carly Cooper as she has yet another crisis and starts to rethink her past once more.

I laughed so hard (mostly at the marvellous Aunt Val) that my husband asked if I was alright several times, and there were a few tears at one point too. Shari Low has magical powers and really pulls you into her characters lives.

It helps that the cast of characters are so brilliant, Carly has really got lucky with her amazing gang of besties. And reading it in lockdown when I haven’t seen any of my pals in about a year really got to me. I miss their faces.

If you need a great read that restores your faith in people a bit more, then you could do a lot worst than reading this and giving yourself a much needed boost.


*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: The Man I Didn’t Marry – Anna Bell*

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Read my review of the author’s We Just Clicked here.

What happens when the man she married can’t remember her?

Ellie has the perfect life: a happy marriage, a gorgeous daughter and a baby on the way. But when her husband Max develops amnesia, he forgets everything about the last five years . . . including their relationship.

Now the man she said ‘I do’ to has become a stranger, and she has no idea why. Yet Ellie is determined to reconnect and find herMax again – he has to be in there somewhere, right?

As they get to know one another afresh, Ellie finds herself seeing Max clearly for the first time. But then she discovers that before his memory loss, Max was keeping a huge secret from her. Will their new beginning prove to be a false start, just as it seemed they might fall in love all over again?

My thoughts:

Halfway through this book, I looked over my husband of two and a half years and said “please don’t ever lose your memory and forget me”, he of course, looked at me like I was crazy.

But the thought of him forgetting even one moment of our 11 years together was horrible.

I know this book is supposed to be a rom com but there is a slight chill to it – Max loses his memory of his wife, his children, everything from the last five years.

I don’t know how Ellie copes, she’s heavily pregnant with their second child, caring for a toddler, and needs her husband around. But suddenly they’re basically strangers again.

It is a lovely and sweet romance as she woos Max into falling in love again, trying to recreate their dates, hoping his memory will come back. But it didn’t half give me a jolt of fear!

*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: The Little Swiss Ski Chalet – Julie Caplin*

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It’s time to pack your bags and head to the breathtaking, snow-covered peaks of the Swiss Alps for
velvety hot chocolates, delicious cheeses and a gorgeous love story…

Food technician Minna has always believed that chocolate will solve everything – and it’s just what she needs when her latest relationship mishap goes viral!

So with her bags packed and a new determination to sort her life out, Minna decides to drown her sorrows with the best hot chocolate in the world at her godmother’s cosy Swiss chalet. Chocolate: yes. Romance: no. Until she has a run in on an Alpine train with a mysterious but oh-so-gorgeous stranger…

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Julie Caplin, formerly a PR director, swanned around Europe for many years taking top food and drink writers on press trips (junkets) sampling the gastronomic delights of various cities in Italy, France, Belgium, Spain, Copenhagen and Switzerland. It was a tough job but someone had to do it.

These trips have provided the inspiration and settings for her Romantic Escapes series which have
been translated into fifteen different languages.

The first book in the seven strong series, The Little Café in Copenhagen, was shortlisted for a Romantic Novel of the Year Award.

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My thoughts:

I’ve never wanted to go skiing, but I would love to hit Switzerland for the food, and this book is a foodie dream of cake and chocolate. Not being able to travel at the moment due to gestures *all this* it was a real treat to travel with Mina to her godmother’s delightful chalet to eat cake, cross country ski and fall in love! (With cake, obvs).

Honestly this book was a delight, and the Mini Eggs I ate while reading were almost enough to stop me chewing the edges of my ipad in hunger at all the delicious things Mina got to enjoy.

*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: Meant To Be – Louise Leaman*

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After a spate of terrible boyfriends, Jess is sure she’s found her perfect man in dependable – but occasionaly dull – Tim. But when her grandmother, tasks her with retrieving a family heirloom from a local auction she finds herself face to face with a charming stranger, Guy.

Guy has already bought her grandmother’s precious necklace and whilst Jess desperately tries to buy it back from him, he somehow convinces her to go out on a date instead. Ridiculous.

But Guy has the necklace and Jess’s grandmother’s health is declining rapidly. Jess has no choice but to indulge Guy and go on a date with if only to get the necklace back. But when she and Guy hit it of on their date Jess’s dependable happily-everafter is thrown of track…

Louisa Leaman was born, raised and now lives near Epping Forest. She studied Art History at Leeds University before becoming a teacher working with children with special needs.

After winning the Times Education Supplement’s New Writer’s Award, she turned her hand to writing books for children. Louisa currently writes content for the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, but has also been published in the Guardian, the Observer, the Independent and The Times Educational Supplement.

Her interest in the arts is often inspiration for her plots and her first book, The Perfect Dress, was inspired by the V&As large wedding dress colection and fulfils her dream of writing romantic fiction.

When she isn’t busy writing or rearing her three lively children, she paints portraits, takes long walks and spends far too long browsing vintage clothing shops.

My thoughts:

This was a fun, sweet rom com, with a family history kept secret at the heart of it. Jess’ grandmother Nancy doesn’t talk about her past but it’s all tied up with the necklace her grandmother made, a priceless heirloom that a jewellery trader Guy gazumped Jess at an auction for.

As Jess attempts to get the necklace back for Nancy, who’s dying, she unravels the story of the women in her family, and the necklace. She’s also starting to fall for Guy, despite her steady (and dull) boyfriend Tim.

*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: No Room at the Little Cornish Inn – Nancy Barone*

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Rosie Anderson was hoping to whisk her young son Danny away for a lovely Christmas with family, far from the hustle and bustle of her life in London.

But then her boss at the head office – aka Susan the Sacker – suddenly assigns her to go in
incognito and save a tiny inn in Cornwall from being closed permanently. Rosie doesn’t know why The Old Bell Inn is performing so badly but it’s on her to sort it out!

Hours in the car later, Rosie arrives at the inn to find she’s been double booked – there are no rooms left. And she isn’t there for more than a minute before she’s butting heads with the manager, Irishman Mitchell Fitzpatrick. He seems to dislike her on
sight, so it’s confusing that he seems to get on so well with Danny…

But if he’s as terrible as his reputation, Rosie will have to be the one to fire him.
This really isn’t the Christmas Rosie was dreaming of. But maybe, just maybe, it could be a whole lot more…

A sweet and uplifting Christmas romance, No Room at the Little Cornish Inn is perfect for fans of Philippa Ashley, Holly Martin and Jenny Hale.

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Nancy Barone Wythe grew up in Canada, but at the age of 12 her family moved to Italy. Catapulted into a world where her only contact with the English language was her old Judy Blume books, Nancy became an avid reader and a die-hard romantic.

Nancy stayed in Italy and, despite being surrounded by handsome Italian men, she married an even more handsome Brit. They now live in Sicily where she teaches English.

Nancy is a member of the RWA and a keen supporter of the Women’s
Fiction Festival at Matera where she meets up once a year with writing friends from all over the globe.

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My thoughts:

This was a lovely, romantic, will they won’t they, of course they will, sort of book, with a Christmas setting in lovely Cornwall (one of my favourite places to visit), in a rustic country hotel.

Rosie is all stressed out being forced to spend Christmas “inspecting” this hotel and trying to find dirt on the manager for her ghastly boss. Plus her son’s birthday is on Christmas Eve and she feels bad about him not getting to have a party. Luckily everyone at the inn is actually delightful and Danny suddenly has all these adults who adore him, and horses to ride. Rosie discovers the supposedly terrible manager is really a delicious hunky Irishman and kind too. What is her awful boss on about?

Sensing a conspiracy Rosie starts to investigate and tries hard not to fall in love. But, as this is Christmas rom com, she fails and soon there’s kissing under the mistletoe and it’s lovely.

A lovely warm hug of a book, perfect for this cold and wet Advent, so snuggle up under a warm blanket with your favourite seasonal drink and enjoy.

*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: Just A Girl – Becky Monson*

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What happens when the right girl and the right guy meet at the wrong time?

One thing that can be said about Quinn Pearson is that she has a knack for doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. Like, the worst time ever. Take her job for instance. One little slip of the tongue using the mother of all swear words while reporting the news, and suddenly she finds herself with over 18 million views on YouTube and her employment in jeopardy. If that wasn’t bad enough, when she meets the man of her dreams, she nearly chokes to death on a powdered sugar donut.

Thankfully for Quinn, the dashing Brit, Henry, finds her near death experience quite charming. But just when Quinn thinks her luck is going to change, she finds out her timing is all wrong again. Henry is off limits. Or is he?

Maybe it’s time for Quinn to quit settling for what life hands her. Perhaps it’s time for her to become more than just a girl.

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By day, Becky Monson is a mother to three young children, and a wife. By night, she escapes with reading books and writing. An award-winning author, Becky uses humor and true-life experiences to bring her characters to life. She loves all things chick-lit (movies, books, etc.), and
wishes she had a British accent.

She has recently given up Diet Coke for the fiftieth time and is hopeful this time will last… but it probably won’t.

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My thoughts:

This is a really fun, cute read, about falling in and out of love, finally standing up for yourself and friendship.

Quinn works in television, where she has to be put up with her sneering colleague, Moriarty, and a strangely familiar anonymous bully, until her new boss, Henry, says she doesn’t have to.

Problem is Quinn and Henry have been on a few dates, and now he’s her boss, and the station has a policy about dating. Quinn gets all in a flap, especially when the “Date Our Producer” segment goes ahead and she and Henry realise they’ve gone and fallen in love!

Luckily Quinn’s loyal, and occasionally very annoying (Thomas), friends are on hand to offer advice, alcohol, pizza and sympathy.

This is a really enjoyable, engaging and funny book and Quinn is a very real protagonist, she feels like she could be one of my friends!

*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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Blog Tour: Meet Me in the Treehouse – Kelly Tink*

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In their secret tree house, nine-year-old Emma and her best friend Chris made a promise: ‘You and
me forever’.

It’s been five years since Emma left her hometown with her soon to be ex-husband and eight years since the tragedy that taught her and Chris that nothing lasts forever.
Now thirty, Emma is an unemployed nurse living back on her parents’ farm, her life in tatters. Chris,
however, is finally healing and making a success of his family’s country estate.
They step into their old friendship as if it were yesterday, but as Emma sets out to rebuild her life, will their past and Chris’s future throw her further off balance?
Or will she find the happiness she left behind by returning to the treehouse?

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Kelly Tink is a cancer nurse, writer and hopeless romantic, living in Cambridgeshire. She enjoys
exploring fun outdoor places with her husband and two sons, especially if it involves eating ice cream by the sea.
She’s an avid reader, loves a good film or TV series and drinks lots of tea. Meet Me in the Treehouse is Kelly’s debut novel.
It would mean the world to Kelly if you would consider taking a few moments to write a review.
These reviews let new readers know what you thought of Meet Me in the Treehouse. Thank you.

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My thoughts:

This was a sweet, warm and funny rom com, following the age old “can men and women ever just be friends?” (Yes, I’ve seen When Harry Met Sally many times).

However there are a few hiccups along the road between friends and true love, his fiancée, her failed marriage, and some more…

An excellent read for the colder evenings curled up on the sofa with a large mug of hot chocolate.

*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: The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre – Robin Talley*

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Read my review of Music From Another World here

Perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli and Nina LaCour, this #ownvoices romantic comedy from New York Times bestselling author Robin Talley has something for everyone: backstage rendezvous, deadly props, and a seemingly insurmountable obstacle to True Love.

Melody McIntyre, stage manager extraordinaire, has a plan for everything.

What she doesn’t have? Success with love. Every time she falls for someone during a school performance, both the romance and the show end in catastrophe. So, Mel swears off any entanglements until their upcoming production of Les Mis is over.

Of course, Mel didn’t count on Odile Rose, rising star in the acting world, auditioning for the spring performance. And she definitely didn’t expect Odile to be sweet and funny, and care as much about the play’s success as Mel.

Which means that Melody McIntyre’s only plan now is trying desperately not to fall in love.

My thoughts:

I loved, loved, loved this book. Be still my theatre nerd, bisexual heart. Honestly, it’s freaking adorable. Funny, silly and very realistic to the stress of putting on a show.

If this book had been around when I was a teen theatre geek, it would have been my go-to read. I loved the characters, Melody and her friends are so charming and snarky and funny.

The relationship between Melody and Odile is sweet and romantic, their sneaking around less so, but we all make mistakes when we’re young.

The triumphant staging of Les Mis is a joy, when all the disasters of rehearsal (as any theatre kid knows, a terrible dress makes for a great run) finally come together, and if you can get through this book without breaking into One Day More, you’re dead inside (and as someone who is dead inside, I mean really dead inside).

*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 Village Vacancy – Julie Houston*

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From the bestselling author of A Village Affair comes a laugh out loud new Westenbury tale…

As the Yorkshire village of Westenbury mourns the loss of one of their own, the women can’t help but contemplate who will fill the vacancy in one handsome widower’s life…

Grace Stevens has decided it’s time to move on without her husband. He’s off gallivanting around Devon in search of a new life, and good riddance. It’s time to go back to teaching, so Grace returns to Little Acorns and takes on an unruly class of pre-teens.

As she deals with disasters in – and out of – the classroom including an accidental dalliance with her most troublesome pupil’s dad, helping track down a drug ring and keeping up with her closest girlfriends, Grace begins to wonder more and more about the sparkle in David’s eyes and the sparking chemistry between them.

Could Grace be the one to fill this village vacancy?

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Julie Houston is the author of THE ONE SAVING GRACE, GOODNESS, GRACE AND ME and LOOKING FOR LUCY, a Kindle top 100 general bestseller and a Kindle #1 bestseller.

She is married, with two teenage children and a mad cockerpoo
and, like her heroine, lives in a West Yorkshire village. She is also a teacher and a magistrate.

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My thoughts:

I’ve read one other of this author’s books and they’re really fun reads so I was very excited about being on this blog tour and not disappointed in the slightest.

Centering on the residents of a Yorkshire village (my Grandad’s from Yorkshire and I can hear the accent in my head when I read, which is lovely) and all their busy lives, at first A Village Vacancy doesn’t seem like a hugely serious book, but underneath the comings and goings of this group of women and their families are the darker moments.

County lines drug dealing is a big concern at the moment, with young people and children drawn into drugs and couriering by dangerous gangs, often without any of the adults in their lives having a clue what’s going on.

As is the case here, the children of the residents are struggling with parents separating, school bullies, and the other emotional trauma that comes with growing up, and this can make them vulnerable.

But Julie’s book is hugely redemptive and there is hope at the end for these fragile children and their parents.

There’s also lots of other storylines to enjoy too, from Grace’s love life, to David moving on after his wife’s death, and the wonderful friendships between Harriet, Grace, Juno, Izzy and Juno’s sisters. There’s also a horse called Harry Trotter, some dogs, peacock chicks, chickens and other assorted creatures to enjoy (including lots of children!).

I loved Grace, and her adorable daughter Petroniella (as someone with a mouthful of a name I winced in sympathy – parents stop punishing your kids with names no can spell or pronounce!) and also Juno and her two, Tilda and Gabe, the first year of secondary school can be monstrous.

I’m off to order all the other books set in this village about these characters and curl up on the sofa under my reading blanket.

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