MOVED!

Hi! Thank you for stopping by. I now have a new blog which you can find here.

This blog will be deleted shortly.

Elle x

BOOK NEWS: It Started With a Tweet by Anna Bell

Anna Bell recently revealed the cover of her new novel, and ISN'T IT LOVELY?! Anna is the author of romantic comedies including the Don't Tell series, The Bucket List to Mend a Broken Heart and The Good Girlfriend's Guide to Getting Even. It Started With a Tweet is out in December, and follows social media-obsessed Daisy who's about to face some life changes after a huge mistake at work...

Daisy Hobson lives her whole life online. A marketing manager by day, she tweets her friends, instagrams every meal and arranges (frankly, appalling) dates on Tinder. But when her social media obsession causes her to make a catastrophic mistake at work, Daisy finds her life going into free-fall...

Her sister Rosie thinks she has the answer to all of Daisy's problems - a digital detox in a remote cottage in Cumbria, that she just happens to need help doing up. Soon, too, Daisy finds herself with two welcome distractions: sexy French exchange-help Alexis, and Jack, the brusque and rugged man-next-door, who keeps accidentally rescuing her.

But can Daisy, a London girl, ever really settle into life in a tiny, isolated village? And, more importantly, can she survive without her phone? 

NEW RELEASES: You, Me and Everything in Between by Helen J Rolfe

You, Me and Everything in Between is the new novel from Helen J Rolfe, author of Handle Me With Care and In a Manhattan Minute. Lydia's life is changed completely, leaving her wondering whether she should finally move on...

Can you ever rewrite the past?

Lydia and Theo face the unthinkable when a knock at the door changes everything. 

As Theo lies unconscious, Lydia begins to pick up the pieces, but not every part of the puzzle fits together as neatly as it did before. And when Lydia begins to move on, what happens when Theo wakes up and realises she didn’t wait for him?

Theo and Lydia have a history together, but do they still have a future? Or has too much happened to be able to forgive and forget? 

BOOK REVIEW: My Sister's Wedding by Vicky Pattison

When I was sent the ARC of My Sister's Wedding by Vicky Pattison, I wasn't sure what to expect - I'm not usually a fan of overly-romantic stories, which is what the cover makes it out to be (it's a little sugary for my tastes!). However, the blurb looked fun. Two very different sisters, one big wedding. I decided to give it a try. As it turned out, this book was brilliant.

First off, I have to say that I had no idea who Vicky Pattison was before reading this. I hardly watch TV, let alone reality TV, and I've never seen an episode of Geordie Shore in my life. On receiving this book I learned Vicky is a celebrity with two more novels available (All That Glitters and The Christmas Kiss) along with some non-fiction titles.

Lizzie and Becky Ashworth are sisters, but so very different. Becky is sensible, focused, and preparing to get married to her fiance, the lovely Daniel Balfour. Meanwhile, Lizzie is a bit more wild, unable to keep a job for very long, and lacking the security and drive that her sister has.

Becky and Daniel are truly in love, and the wedding is set to be a lavish affair, especially seeing as Daniel hails from the uber-rich Balfour family, a big difference from the Ashworths' working-class roots. Becky has always felt that the Balfours do not approve of their son's decision to marry her instead of a wealthy socialite, which is causing tensions to run high in preparation for the big day.

Meanwhile, Daniel's sister isn't happy with the marriage, especially seeing as her friend has eyes for Daniel, and so the pair come up with a plot to try and split up the happy couple for good.

As Becky is planning to move into the next chapter of her life, Lizzie feels as though she's lagging behind, that her sister won't need her anymore. But as it happens, the sisters might just need each other more than they think.

My Sister's Wedding was very funny and quite hard to put down. The book is narrated by both sisters during the wedding preparations, and it's hard not to like both of the girls; even Lizzie, who may come across as fiery and less sensible than her sister, but has a heart of gold - especially when it comes to family! There are some great characters too, along with some rivalry and revenge. Admittedly I did feel that this book was for a slightly younger audience (maybe late teens/early twenties), but it's a great story. It's light, funny and feel-good, and I really enjoyed it.

Rating: 5/5

NEW RELEASES: Hello Sunshine by Laura Dave

Sunshine is a vlogger who appears to have it all in life - that is, until her true identity is revealed. In Hello Sunshine, the newly-released novel by Laura Dave, author of The First Husband and Eight Hundred Grapes, Sunshine has to navigate life in the downfall of the identity she has built up online.

Sunshine Mackenzie truly is living the dream. A lifestyle guru for the modern age, Sunshine is beloved by millions of people who tune into her YouTube cooking show, and millions more scour her website for recipes, wisdom, and her enticing suggestions for how to curate a perfect life. She boasts a series of #1 New York Times bestselling cookbooks, a devoted architect husband, and a reputation for sincerity and kindness--Sunshine seems to have it all. But she's hiding who she really is. And when her secret is revealed, her fall from grace is catastrophic. What Sunshine does in the ashes of destruction will save her in more ways than she can imagine. 

In our modern world, where celebrity is a careful construct, Laura Dave's compelling, enticing novel explores the devastating effect of the secrets we keep in public...and in private. Hello, Sunshine is a fresh, provocative look at a woman teetering between a scrupulously assembled life and the redemptive power of revealing the truth.

BLOG TOUR: Half a Sixpence by Evie Grace

Half a Sixpence is the new book by Evie Grace. This historical novel, set in Kent in the 1800s, focuses on Catherine, a woman who is forced to keep her family together in a time of tragedy.

Catherine Rook takes her peaceful life for granted. Her days are spent at the village school and lending a hand on her family’s farm. Life is run by the seasons, and there’s little time for worry. 

But rural unrest begins sweeping through Kent, and when Pa Rook buys a threshing machine it brings turbulence and tragedy to Wanstall Farm. With the Rooks’ fortunes forever changed, Catherine must struggle to hold her family together. 

She turns to her childhood companion, Matty Carter, for comfort, and finds more than friendship in his loving arms. But Matty has his own family to protect, and almost as quickly as their love blossomed their future begins to unravel. 

With the threat of destitution nipping at her heels, Catherine must forge a way out of ruin...

As part of the Half a Sixpence blog tour, Evie Grace has shared with us a character profile. Read on to find out more about Catherine Rook!

Half a Sixpence will be released tomorrow.

Character Profile: Catherine Rook

Thank you very much for hosting today’s stop on my blog tour with Half a Sixpence, the first book in a new series, a Victorian family saga set in East Kent. Half a Sixpence is the story of Catherine Rook, a country girl born in Overshill, East Kent in 1817, and I’d love to tell you a little more about her.

I took inspiration for Catherine’s character and way of life from my family tree, anecdotes passed down from my grandparents and great grandparents, and my experiences of the countryside. I was born in Kent and one of my earliest memories is of picking cherries with my grandfather in an orchard near Selling. He was a farm manager, and Wanstall Farm, Catherine’s home in Half a Sixpence has echoes of the place where he worked.

Catherine lives with Ma and Pa Rook and her brother, John. Her older siblings have already left home. She enjoys feeding the hens, collecting their eggs and looking after the pigs, especially when they give birth to their piglets. Pa is a great believer in the value of education, sending her to the village school where she learns the three R’s with her best friend, Emily. She aspires to marry for love one day, in spite of Ma’s rather embarrassing conviction that she should marry up.  

Catherine’s life follows the seasons that come and go the same, year after year, punctuated by the regular sowing, harvesting and threshing of the corn, followed by rowdy harvest suppers and the hop picking. When Catherine needs new clothes, Pa Rook says she can have them ‘after ‘op-picking’, a saying that has been passed down through my family. My mum remembers her mother taking her, her brother and sister hop picking every summer to bring in desperately needed cash. My grandmother also went fruit-picking, taking a pram with a false bottom under which she hid apples to take home.

Catherine helps the Rooks’ maid in the kitchen, pickling and preserving the produce from the land, and learning to make the perfect pastry for plum pies. Living on the farm is hard, but in many ways Catherine leads an idyllic way of life that comes under threat when her father decides to invest in a threshing machine.

The fresh challenges facing the farm and her family serve to strengthen Catherine’s resourceful character, a recurring feature of my Victorian ancestors. One of my great-grandmothers had a reputation for being a particularly determined lady who brought up seven happy children in a tiny house on very little money with the help of her husband who grew and sold fresh vegetables from the garden to make ends meet. However, her background was tainted by rumours of illegitimacy, the consequences of which I have introduced into Half a Sixpence.

Catherine is resourceful, loyal and caring, and even at her lowest ebb, she finds the strength to carry on.

I hope you enjoy reading her story.

x Evie

BLOG TOUR: Skylarking by Kate Mildenhall - Q&A and Extract

This year has seen so many great debut novels - one being Skylarking by Kate Mildenhall. The book focuses on two best friends whose friendship is tested by the arrival of a newcomer to their small island.

Kate has stopped by for a Q&A on Skylarking, to tell about her new novel and the inspiration behind it.

Click here to read an extract of Skylarking!

Kate and Harriet are best friends growing up together on an isolated Australian cape. As the daughters of the lighthouse keepers, the two girls share everything, until a fisherman, McPhail, arrives in their small community.

When Kate witnesses the desire that flares between him and Harriet, she is torn by her feelings of envy and longing. An innocent moment in McPhail's hut then occurs that threatens to tear their peaceful community apart.

Inspired by a true story, Skylarking is a spellbinding tale of friendship and desire, memory and truth, which questions what it is to remember and how tempting it can be to forget.

Tell us about your latest novel in 15 words or less.
A remote lighthouse. Best friends growing up. A fisherman. A gun…

What inspired you to write Skylarking?
While on a camping trip with my family and best friends, I stumbled upon an old grave. It belonged to a young woman who had lived at a nearby lighthouse in the 1880s and I was immediately captivated by the information that hinted at a bigger story, including her friendship with the daughter of the Head Lighthouse Keeper, and a terrible event that occurred at a fisherman’s hut nearby. I began to dig into the history of the lighthouse and eventually became obsessed with imagining the lives of these two best friends and what became of them.

Where do you do most of your writing?
I occupied a corner of the lounge room by surrounding it with bookshelves so I have a little nook with a sunny window and a desk amid towering piles of books. But, as I have two young children, I also write wherever I can – on the train, in the car outside dancing class, dictating notes on my phone while waiting at traffic lights!

What is your favourite book?
This question is like asking which of my children is my favourite! As a child, Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery, as a student Cloudstreet by Tim Winton, as a writer The Writer’s Room: Conversations About Writing edited by Charlotte Wood.

Which part of Skylarking did you enjoy writing the most?
In the beginning I had no idea I was writing a novel, let alone that it would be published – so that was incredibly liberating. I avoided writing the climax of the novel for many, many months, and when I finally did, I sobbed all the way through. That part wasn’t enjoyable but it was certainly an experience I’ll never forget.

Who is your favourite literary heroine?
Again, so many! But Anne of Green Gables and Grace Marks from Margaret Attwood’s Alias Grace influenced me both in my life and writing.

Do you have any tips for readers who are looking to become published writers?
Keep reading widely and voraciously! And sit down and DO the writing. Your novel can sound wonderful in your mind but you’ve got to take the risk to actually put it down on paper. Be brave!

Are you working on anything else at the moment and if so, can you tell us?
I’m in the middle of writing my second novel. It’s a more contemporary story and as part of the research I’m hitching a ride on a yacht from Darwin to Indonesia. I’m enjoying pushing myself to take new risks in this work!

Thanks, Kate!

You can find out more about Kate Mildenhall by visiting her website, Facebook, or by following her on Twitter.