Twenty Eight and a Half Wishes by Denise Grover Swank

The concept of this was simple enough – throw in a paranormal power and an ongoing makeover situation and this is chick-lit territory with a twist. The main character did a lot of personal growth stuff during the book and the countdown helped to keep things fast paced.

The story did a nice job of reminding you of the important stuff in life. The bucket list created within is something I know a lot of people do and the time restraints, murder mystery and aforementioned personal growth stuff fleshed it out nicely.

See this book on Goodreads.

June 21, 2014June 16, 2014 by Emily Categories: ReviewsTags: denise grover swank, mystery, paranormal, Reviews, rom com Leave a comment

Weddings Can Be Murder by Christie Craig

Okay, so I realise the title should have given this away to me, but I thought this would be a little more mystery and less terrifying hostage situation. I do not do well with scary stuff. Nightmare ensue.

Still, I enjoyed it very much, the tension lightened by the banter between the two main characters and the undeniable chemistry between them. Enough to forget the horror of being hunted down by a serial killer at any rate, which never seemed to worry the main character quite as much as you would expect.

See this review on Goodreads.

June 19, 2014June 16, 2014 by Emily Categories: ReviewsTags: christie craig, Reviews, weddings can be murder Leave a comment

The Vintage Summer Wedding by Jenny Oliver

I liked this book, the story and the character of Anna. I’m rating it two stars instead of three because all the other people in Anna’s life – her father, her old school peers, people in the village – were so unbelievably harsh and unpleasant to her.

With the book being from Anna’s point of view, the only justification for the hostile words of the people in the village was her own belief that she had been a teenager with attitude…and well, it seemed unlikely that an entire village would take against her for being, for all purposes, a normal teenager.

Otherwise, I found the initial topsy-turvy descriptions entertaining and I identified with Anna – there have certainly been places or jobs I just didn’t want to be in and yet seemed to have no choice about the matter.

So overall a fun book about finding your own dream when you’ve been chasing someone else’s dream for so long, but the majority of the characters annoyed me.

See this book on Goodreads.

June 17, 2014June 11, 2014 by Emily Categories: ReviewsTags: jenny oliver, Reviews, vintage summer wedding Leave a comment

Long Time Coming by Edie Claire

I loved the paranormal aspect of this story, it punctuated events within the book very nicely. The two (or should I say three?) main characters were very interesting and thanks to the flashbacks / reminisces about the past had a lot of depth to them that explained their actions. Even when a character was doing something I personally didn’t agree with, you could see from their history why they would act that way.

I worked out where the story was going very fast and even got so far as determining how it would come about long before it was mentioned by the author. However, there was one character twist I did not see coming and that remained in the dark right up until the author chose to reveal it. The story therefore kept me interested, entertained and involved with the characters.

A great read, very much recommended to accompany a sofa day or a plane flight.

See this book on Goodreads.

June 11, 2014 by Emily Categories: ReviewsTags: long time coming, paranormal, Reviews, romance 1 Comment

The One by Kiera Cass

I’d been looking forward to finishing off the trilogy, although I didn’t re-read the other books before starting on this one so it took me a few to catch up on what was going on – not a problem as I dislike full recaps in the opening pages.

I had read some pre-release reviews that made the whole story sound very predictable but I have to say the author managed to draw out the love triangle for most of the book. Three quarters of the way through I still wasn’t entirely sure who America would choose. I knew who she should choose, but there was always a little niggling doubt…

The political situation got a lot more tense and immediate in this book than the first two. The twists in the story kept it interesting, although were in keeping with many other dystopian fictions that I have read recently. The trend seems to be moving towards doing actions that shock, rather than that fit neatly into the story – or maybe that is just a more accurate depiction of reality? Either way, I enjoyed the story and felt the trilogy was concluded satisfactorily.

See this book on Goodreads.

June 8, 2014 by Emily Categories: ReviewsTags: kiera cass, Reviews 1 Comment

The Villa in Italy by Elizabeth Edmondson

To be perfectly candid, I originally downloaded this book because it was raining and the cover led me to believe it would be a light-hearted rom com set in sunny Italy.

However, what I ended up with was better than that. This story started off confusingly, but soon the main characters were in place and a mystery began to be uncovered, relationships developed and histories revealed. I found the whole thing enormously intriguing and couldn’t put it down. I even got to luxuriate in the promised Italian villa!

The characters were built up skilfully and the story helped each character to untangle their various issues and come to terms with themselves and what they wanted out of life in order to become happy. It was really interesting to gradually learn more about each person as their companions did. The imagery was beautiful and while not what I originally expected, I am more than glad that I found and read this book.

See this book on Goodreads.

June 6, 2014June 8, 2014 by Emily Categories: ReviewsTags: elizabeth edmondson, Reviews 1 Comment

Wave Singers by Echo Fox Book Review

Wave Singers by Echo Fox

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book – I love fantasy fiction and the plot delivered a fresh twist on the usual mermaid story.

I loved the way the author combined music and magic and some of the scenes were beautifully written.

I particularly enjoyed the character’s humour, which kept the book pacy and interesting as well as magical.

Recommended!

View all my reviews

November 21, 2013 by Emily Categories: WritingTags: echo fox, magic, mermaids, music, Reviews, singing, wave singers Leave a comment

This week I read Crystal: Book 1 in the Glassmaker’s Saga by Donna Baker. It was incredibly well-researched, weaving a story of love, loss and family greed into an arena of Victorian Industrial era glass making. I learnt a lot about the art of making glass and I can tell you this – it made me suddenly look at the mass-produced IKEA basics I own and the heavy rock-crystal, fully engraved objets d’art that my grandmother used to have on display around her home in completely new lights. Not to mention, it made me crave a bit of the good stuff myself – case in point, I am loving these crystal light bulbs!

This week I also took in an amazing delivery of vintage clothes and accessories for the pre-loved shop I run social media for. Oh my. This drop was spectacular, the items ranged from 60s mock-ups of Edwardian style gowns, to wool and cashmere coats, a black velvet opera cape that I am a little bit in love with and an entire collection of Liberty print silk scarves. Gorgeous. With the temperature dropping, silk scarves are definitely a wardrobe staple. They hold heat beautifully and the colours you can get in silk are mouth-wateringly delicious. I’m liking florals, like this Wild Roses Vintage Silk Scarf on Etsy and bright, Autumnal stripes like this 1970s Vera Newman Ladybug Scarf on Etsy.

This week also saw, finally, the booking of the hotel for my Barcelona trip! I’ve been putting together a packing list, but it’s tricky as the weather here has switched abruptly from sunny and warm to bloomin’ cold and grey. Barcelona should be a nice, mild 20 degrees but right now all I can think about it jumpers and boots.

That reminds me – just bought these H&M boots too. Awaiting delivery and hoping they fit!

September 13, 2013 by Emily Categories: FridaysTags: Friday, Reviews, Style Leave a comment