Showing posts with label Fiona Gibson. Show all posts

UNCOVERED PICKS: Five April Releases

It's a new month! Spring is here, and the sun is out (at the moment, anyway!) There's nothing better than relaxing with a drink and a good book, so here's a selection of five new women's fiction releases for April.

A Life Without You by Shari Low
30 year old Dee Harper and her husband, Joe, are blissfully happy. Every day she makes her loyal parents Val & Don incredibly proud. Jen has been her best friend and 'adopted sister' since their days of teenage crushes, bad 90's make-up and huge hair. They are just like any other group of family and friends, living life, getting by with equal measures of love and laughter. Until one day everything changes. 

Dee is gone, killed by a reckless driver, leaving the people she loved to deal with their grief in different ways. A marriage is rocked as a parent becomes consumed with seeking justice. A husband struggles to accept the loss of his wife and their future. And a friend discovers that there were shocking secrets that went unshared. But all of them have to learn that the only way forward is to let go of the past.

The Woman Who Met Her Match by Fiona Gibson
What if your first love came back on the scene...30 years later?

After yet another disaster, Lorrie is calling time on online dating. She might be single in her forties, but she’s got a good job, wonderful children and she’s happy. This, Lorrie decides, is going to have to be enough.

That is, until she receives a very unexpected request from France. Antoine Rousseau, who had once turned a lonely French exchange trip into a summer of romance, wants to see her – after thirty years.
But Lorrie is a responsible woman. She can’t exactly run off to Nice with the man who broke her teenage heart...can she?

Lost for Words by Stephanie Butland
This bookshop keeps many secrets...

Loveday Cardew prefers books to people. If you look carefully, you might glimpse the first lines of the novels she loves most tattooed on her skin. But there are some things Loveday will never show you.

Into her refuge - the York book emporium where she works - come a poet, a lover, a friend, and three mysterious deliveries, each of which stirs unsettling memories.

Everything is about to change for Loveday. Someone knows about her past and she can't hide any longer. She must decide who around her she can trust. Can she find the courage to right a heartbreaking wrong? And will she ever find the words to tell her own story?

It's time to turn the pages of her past...

Lost and Found by Danielle Ryan
Can true love prevail when the real and online world collide? Melissa Riva works in Milan as a university researcher. After buying an iPad at auction, she finds it contains files belonging to its previous owner. Fascinated by the beautiful photographs of romantic landscapes and views of the city, she starts her search for the previous owner. Locating him through Facebook, Melissa can't resist contacting him. Melissa and Riccardo begin chatting online. Both of them becoming increasingly dependent on this strange relationship, though acutely aware that it's only likely to remain a virtual one. But when real life bursts in on their digital world, they can't resist revealing their true feelings...

The Cows by Dawn O'Porter
COW [n.]
/kaÊŠ/
A piece of meat; born to breed; past its sell-by-date; one of the herd.

Women don’t have to fall into a stereotype.

Tara, Cam and Stella are strangers living their own lives as best they can – though when society’s screaming you should live life one way, it can be hard to like what you see in the mirror.

When an extraordinary event ties invisible bonds of friendship between them, one woman’s catastrophe becomes another’s inspiration, and a life lesson to all.

Sometimes it’s ok not to follow the herd.

The Cows is a powerful novel about three women – judging each other, but also themselves. In all the noise of modern life, they need to find their own voice.

UNCOVERED PICKS: Five February Releases

New month, new reads! With so many new books being published during February, it was difficult to select just five. But here are some of the new titles being released this month, including novels from Ilana Fox and Fiona Gibson.

The Glittering Art of Falling Apart by Ilana Fox
1980s Soho is electric. For Eliza, the heady pull of its nightclubs and free-spirited people leads her into the life she has craved - all glamour, late nights and excitement. But it comes at a heavy cost. Cassie is fascinated by her family's history and the abandoned Beaufont Hall. Why won't her mother talk about it? Offered the chance to restore Beaufont to its former glory, Cassie jumps at the opportunity to learn more about her past. Separated by a generation, but linked by a forgotten diary, these two women have more in common than they know...

The Woman Who Upped and Left by Fiona Gibson
Forget about having it all. Sometimes you just want to leave it all behind. Audrey is often seized by the urge to walk out of her house without looking back - but she can't possibly do that. She is a single parent. She is needed. She has a job, a home, responsibilities...and a slothful teenage son's pants to pick up. But no one likes being taken for granted - Audrey least of all - so the time has come for drastic action. And no one's going to stand in her way... 

The Stylist by Rosie Nixon
London boutique is plucked from obscurity and mistakenly offered a job working with Mona Armstrong, the infamous, jet-setting 'stylist to the stars', she hits the ground running, helping to style some of Hollywood's hottest (and craziest) starlets. As awards season spins into action Mona is in hot demand and Amber's life turned upside down. Suddenly she catching the attention of two very different suitors, TV producer Rob and Hollywood bad boy rising star Liam. How will Amber keep her head? And what the hell will everyone wear? 

Opening Belle by Maureen Sherry
A whip-smart and funny novel told by a former Wall Street insider who reveals what it s like for a working woman to balance love, ambition, and family in a world of glamorous excess, outrageous risk-taking, and jaw-dropping sexism. In 2008, Isabelle a self-made, thirty-something Wall Street star appears to have it all: an Upper West Side apartment, three healthy children, a handsome husband, and a high-powered job. But her reality is something else. Her trading desk work environment resembles a 1980s frat party, her husband feels employment is beneath him, and the bulk of childcare and homecare still falls in Belle s already full lap. Enter Henry, the former college fiance she never quite got over; now a hedge fund mogul. He becomes her largest client, and Belle gets to see the life she might have had with him. While Henry campaigns to win Belle back, the sexually harassed women in her office take action to improve their working conditions, and recruit a wary Belle into a secret glass ceiling club whose goal is to mellow the cowboy banking culture and get equal pay for their work. All along, Belle can sense the financial markets heading toward their soon-to-be historic crash and that something has to give and when it does, everything is going to change: her marriage, her career, her world, and her need to keep her colleagues hands to themselves.

Making Headlines by Jennifer Hansen
Working as a TV reporter has its challenges, but when Rachel Bentley decides to aim high and become a newsreader, she faces a whole new minefield of explosive scenarios. 

Rachel's path sees her pitched against egos in the newsroom, office politics and corrupt politicians, not to mention rampant sexism and a mystery stalker. Juggling a messy personal life doesn't help, nor does the emotional impact of reporting on life's tragedies and when it all takes a toll and Rachel starts partying too hard, she finds herself making the headlines instead of reading them. 

Will she survive a world where dreams are shattered daily and will she find the man who can help her keep her soul?

NEW RELEASES: Love...Maybe - the Valentine's Day short story collection from Avon

Whether you're a fan of Valentine's Day or whether you loathe it, Avon's newly-released short story collection, Love...Maybe is bound to have a story you'll enjoy (there's not only romance, but love potions, secrets, infidelity, even ghosts! I'm up for this...). The collection includes ten stories from much-loved authors including Fiona Gibson, Claudia Carroll and Ella Harper.

From heart-wrenching proposals to naughty little Chihuahuas; unexpected secret pregnancies to wicked love-potions; serendipitous brief encounters that change the hands of fate to bitter ghostly beauties who haunt loveless singletons. This is the ultimate Valentine’s Day short story collection. Tear-jerking, enchanting, feel-good and fabulous… Curl up, relax and escape into Valentine’s Day.

Love...Maybe 

WE SINK OR SWIM TOGETHER: The Weepy One
It’s the night before the Lusitania docks. Tragedy strikes. Will love survive?

SINGLE, FORTY AND FABULOUS: The Feel-Good One
Kate wishes she could turn back time to her 21st, in the arms of her childhood sweetheart. Be careful what you wish for …

AN UNFORGETTABLE PROPOSAL: The Guilty One
William accepts Samuel’s proposal of marriage, but discovers that Sam has been hiding a secret. And it’s one that will change their lives forever…

THE LOVE POTION: The Vengeful One
When a pharmacist discovers her boyfriend's infidelity, she cooks up a Valentine's feast he won’t forget…

THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF CUPID AND THE DRAG QUEEN: The Suspicious One
Searching for a Chihuahua called Cupid, PI Jayne McCartney discovers love comes with a bite!

SNOW ON VALENTINE’S DAY: The Bittersweet One
Clara goes to the same landmark every year, for the same heartbreaking reason. But what if things change?

A BRIEF ENCOUNTER: The Romantic One
Rachel has a secret. Daniel has a diamond ring. When a storm traps the two strangers together, destiny changes.

SAVING MIRANDA: The Serendipitous One
Dynamic Rufus and his desire to save the planet has won Miranda’s heart, but is he really her perfect match?

THE STAINED GLASS HEART: The Enchanting One
Does the new tenant have what it takes to break the spell of the three loveless ghosts at No.17?

THE VALENTINE-FREE ZONE: The Funny One
Ousted by her teenage son’s Valentine’s plans, Jenny has no idea how to spend the most romantic night of the year…

BOOK REVIEW: As Good As it Gets? by Fiona Gibson

As a fan of Fiona Gibson's novels since picking up Mummy Said the F Word in 2011, I've been looking forward to her latest offering, As Good As It Gets, for some time. Due for release on 29th January, As Good As it Gets? is a tale of modern motherhood, written in Fiona's wonderfully funny voice, and if you're a fan of her previous novels (which include Mum on the Run, Take Mum Out and The Great Escape) then you're bound to enjoy this one!

Charlotte Bristow is worried. After becoming unemployed, husband Will has changed. Not wanting to get in the way of Will's somewhat uneventful search for a job, Charlotte has decided to keep quiet. Working in marketing for a crisp company and being mum to sixteen-year-old Rosie and eleven-year-old Ollie, Charlotte's life is relatively normal - until, that is, her gorgeous daughter Rosie is scouted for a top model agency whilst shopping.

With a glistening career offered to her on a plate, Rosie is all set for life as a catwalk queen. But soon, partly due to a comment made at the agency's headquarters, part of the past is about to quickly make its way into the present. Will isn't Rosie's biological father - Fraser is. Posh Fraser, who Charlotte met while travelling. Who dumped Charlotte and their baby out of the blue, before Rosie was even born.

So when curious Rosie wants to get back in touch with her 'real' dad, how can Charlotte refuse? Especially when it turns out Fraser has been in contact too.

With some friendly new arrivals in their quiet street (and, hilariously, some leather trousers), the life of the Bristows is seemingly fine. However, some truths are about to be uncovered, along with an announcement from Will. With Rosie's modelling career to contend with, her secret emails with Fraser, neighbour dilemmas and colleagues making bad decisions, Charlotte's life, and her marriage, is becoming far from perfect...

Without giving away too much of the story, I will say that this is now my favourite of Fiona Gibson's books, and quite possibly the funniest yet in my opinion. Fiona's novels are always charming and fun, taking the realities of family life and portraying them in a unique, relatable way with down-to-earth characters that you can easily get to know. (I absolutely loved Charlotte). Even though I am not a parent myself, I have enjoyed every one of Fiona's tales to date, and I could not put As Good As It Gets? down until I had finished. Fiona tackles family issues, such as Fraser coming back into the life of her teenage daughter, Will's unemployment and the impact it has had on their fourteen-year marriage, with clarity, heart and a lot of humour, which is why I enjoyed As Good As It Gets? so much. I am eagerly awaiting Fiona's next book.

Rating: 5/5

UNCOVERED PICKS: Five new releases for the New Year

Now that the holiday season is over, we've been focusing on the new year. After all, new year - new reads! There are many exciting new novels due for release in January, and it's been difficult to select just five. But the reading list is certainly going to be full, with new releases from Jill Mansell, Fiona Gibson, and a haunting tale from Kate Riordan.

When I Met You by Jemma Forte
Marianne Baker is happy. Sort of. She's worked at the same job for years (nearly 15, but who's counting), she lives at home with her mum (who is driving her crazy) and sleeps in a single bed (yep, her love life is stalled). Playing the violin is her only real passion - but nobody like her does that for a living. Then one nighteverything changes. The father who abandoned Marianne over twenty years ago turns up on her doorstep, with a dark secret that changes her life forever. Suddenly Marianne's safe, comfortable world is shattered. If her father isn't the man she thought he was, then who is he? And, more to the point, who is she? It's time to find out who the real Marianne Baker is. 

The Girl in the Photograph by Kate Riordan
When Alice Eveleigh arrives at Fiercombe Manor during the long, languid summer of 1933, she finds a house steeped in mystery and brimming with secrets. Sadness permeates its empty rooms and the isolated valley seems crowded with ghosts, none more alluring than Elizabeth Stanton whose only traces remain in a few tantalisingly blurred photographs. Why will no one speak of her? What happened a generation ago to make her vanish? As the sun beats down relentlessly, Alice becomes ever more determined to unearth the truth about the girl in the photograph - and stop her own life from becoming an eerie echo of Elizabeth's...

As Good As It Gets? by Fiona Gibson
“Midlife crisis? WHAT midlife crisis?!”

Charlotte Bristow is worried about her husband Will. Their fourteen years of marriage have been rather lovely so far, but things have been a bit odd lately.

With their stunning 16-year-old daughter Rosie newly signed to a top modelling agency and Will recently out of a job, Charlotte can’t help but notice that things are changing in their household.
As Will dusts down his old leather trousers and starts partying with their new, fun neighbours, Charlotte begins to wonder what on earth is going on.

So when Fraser, Charlotte’s ex – and father of Rosie – suddenly arrives back on the scene, Charlotte starts to wonder what might have been…

Don't Mention the Rock Star by Bree Darcy
They fell in love in an instant … so why have they spent a lifetime apart? 

As a teenager Kellie dated an American boy but circumstances meant they went their separate ways. Now he’s back and she’s so tempted to see him again. But two decades have passed and they are both married with children. 

And the last thing a celebrity reporter like her needs is the world finding out about her past relationship with a rock star. Especially as Kellie’s husband doesn’t even know she once dated AJ Dangerfield, lead singer of legendary band Danger Game. And she has no intention of him finding out. EVER. 

As Kellie deals with a demanding boss, a bullied son, an infuriating mother-in-law and a best friend who won’t act her age, she finds herself playing a dangerous game. What will happen if her two worlds collide? And is it possible that first love never fades? 

Three Amazing Things About You by Jill Mansell

Hallie has a secret. She's in love. He's perfect for her in every way, but he's seriously out of bounds. And her friends aren't going to help her because what they do know is that Hallie doesn't have long to live. Time is running out...

Flo has a dilemma. She really likes Zander. But his scary sister won't be even faintly amused if she thinks Zander and Flo are becoming friends - let alone anything more. Tasha has a problem. Her new boyfriend is the adventurous type. And she's afraid one of his adventures will go badly wrong. THREE AMAZING THINGS ABOUT YOU begins as Hallie goes on a journey. A donor has been found and she's about to be given new lungs. But whose?

UNCOVERED PICKS: 5 Books for Mother's Day

This weekend we'll be celebrating Mother's Day here in the UK, and in honour of this special Sunday, here's our selection of five reads - for and about mums!


Take Mum Out by Fiona Gibson

"What do you need a boyfriend for? You're a mum." Fiona Gibson's eagerly awaited new novel is full of dating disasters. Sharply observed and laugh-out-loud funny, its perfect for fans of Tracy Bloom, Kate Long and Tess Stimson. Three blind dates Two teenage boys messing up her plans And one man who'll melt Alice's heart. 'You need to get back in the saddle...' Alice despises that phrase. She's fine being single - with two slothful teenage boys and a meringue business to run, she has enough on her plate without negotiating the troublesome world of modern dating. However, Alice's three best friends have other ideas. Each one will present her with an utterly delicious, eligible man - all Alice has to do is pick her favourite.



Mums on Strike by Laura Kemp
It was just a squashed grape on the kitchen floor. Hardly a reason to get upset, right?

But six years of motherhood has left Lisa Stratton feeling like a skivvy.

Every morning before she's opened her eyes, she starts her mental inventory of jobs to do. And just like yesterday, the day before and every day since she became a mum, she's woken up knackered.

So when her husband deliberately steps over the grape because it's 'her responsibility' to run the house, it tips her over the edge.

He wasn't always like this - they used to share everything.

Then the kids came along and he saw it as an excuse to sit back.

But this time things are going to change. Lisa has made a decision. She's going on strike.

Mother of the Year by Karen Ross
 
'I often think my mother would prefer colonic irrigation to hanging out with me...' Beth Jackson is a national treasure, celebrated for her television shows and winning the Mother of the Year Award three times in a row. Only, her daughter just wishes that Beth would be more like a normal mum...

A Mother Dimension by Mink Elliott
 
Kate O’Reilly, mother of three on the cusp of her 45th birthday, has got a thing about the past. Her husband, Seamus and long-standing best friend, Georgia, both call her chronic nostalgia an obsession – but Kate sees it as her safety harness, her private Prozac, her coping mechanism of choice. Because when being a wife and mother is weighing her down, making her feel trapped and overwhelming her, all Kate needs to do is take a quick trip down memory lane - to where the music was better, her social circle was wider, her self-esteem higher, her hair thicker and her waist much, much thinner - and voila! All is right with her world again.

But when a freak electrical storm propels her back in time to 1996 for real, Kate can’t believe what’s happening. Soon, however, she’s elated, because this is the moment she’s been waiting for all these years – her chance to re-live those good old days and actually do all those things she’s been fantasising about.

Armed with little more than the optimism of youth, the benefit of hindsight, a taut-again tummy and just the one chin, Kate sets out to discover what might have happened if she’d only done things a little bit differently. And why some things really are best left in the past...

Balancing Act by Joanna Trollope
Susie Moran is a success. She has founded and run her own highly profitable company, and now her three daughters are all involved in the business. Rooted in the traditions of the Stoke-on-Trent potteries, and producing charming, useable objects of distinctive design, Susie is justly proud of her family and her achievement - and has no intention of letting it change.

But what of the men in the family? Susie's husband, a musician and artist, has always seemed happy to take a back seat. One of her sons-in-law has few ambitions outside the home. Another daughter, though, has brought her husband into the company - and they want to change things, much to Susie's distress.

And then, into the mix, arrives Susie's father, an ageing hippy who abandoned Susie as a baby. Now he's alone, and wants to build bridges, although Susie's daughters are outraged at the idea. Can the needs of a family business override the needs of the family itself? In wanting to preserve her business, will Susie lose something much more precious?

BOOK REVIEW: Take Mum Out by Fiona Gibson

Having read (and loved!) Fiona Gibson's previous novels, including Mummy Said the F Word and Mum On the Run, I was rather excited about her latest book, Take Mum Out. Released next week, Take Mum Out focuses on busy single mother Alice Sweet - meringue maker, school secretary and mum of two teenage boys.

With her successful meringue business, Sugar Mummy, having recently taken off,  Alice hasn't had much time for finding a love life. And after one particularly bad date, she realises that she's perfectly happy staying single. Though Alice's three best friends disagree - and with that, set out on a mission to find Alice her Mr Right.

Three dates. Three men, set up by perfectly responsible friends. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, Alice is about to find out. And trying to get time alone away from teenage sons Logan and Fergus is proving a challenge in itself - though she's helped by her often annoying mother and her ex, who has taken on a new catalogue-perfect country life with sugar-fearing wife Patsy.

From doting to downright disastrous, Alice's new suitors give her friends a lot to answer for. However, I don't want to reveal any more and spoil the fun!

One of the reasons why I'm such a fan of Fiona Gibson is her fun writing style; her 'real' heroines and the hilarious scrapes that they - that we all, sometimes - get into. Admittedly, I wouldn't usually be so excited about a book that focuses mainly on dating, given that I've read so many. Though having loved Fiona's previous novels, I knew that this would be a great book. Despite not being a parent myself, I have thoroughly enjoyed her amusing tales of life as a mum, and Take Mum Out is no exception. It's the perfect book to curl up with; a brilliantly funny and heartwarming read.

Rating: 5/5

UNCOVERED PICKS: Five new novels for March

There are plenty of great new chick-lit novels heading our way in March, from authors including Jane Costello, Fiona Gibson, Collete Caddle and Rebecca Chance. Here are our five picks for the month - what are yours?

Take Mum Out by Fiona Gibson
“What do you need a boyfriend for? You’re a mum.”

Fiona Gibson’s eagerly awaited new novel is full of dating disasters. Sharply observed and laugh-out-loud funny, its perfect for fans of Tracy Bloom, Kate Long and Tess Stimson.

Three blind dates
Two teenage boys messing up her plans
And one man who'll melt Alice's heart.

'You need to get back in the saddle…' Alice despises that phrase. She's fine being single – with two slothful teenage boys and a meringue business to run, she has enough on her plate without negotiating the troublesome world of modern dating.

However, Alice's three best friends have other ideas. Each one will present her with an utterly delicious, eligible man – all Alice has to do is pick her favourite.

Skeletons by Jane Fallon
Jen has discovered a secret.

It's not hers to share, but is it hers to keep?

If she tells her husband Jason, he might get over the shock but will he forgive her for telling the truth? She might drive a wedge through their marriage.

If she tells someone else in Jason's family - the family she's come to love more than her own - she'd not only tear them apart but could also find herself on the outside: she's never really been one of them, after all.

But if she keeps this dirty little secret to herself, how long can she pretend nothing is wrong? How long can she live a lie?

Jen knows the truth - but is she ready for the consequences?

Ghostwritten by Isabel Wolff
A childhood mistake. A lifetime of regrets.

Jenni is a ‘ghost’: she writes the lives of other people. It’s a job that suits her well: still haunted by a childhood tragedy, she finds it easier to take refuge in the memories of others rather than dwell on her own.
Jenni has an exciting new commission, and is delighted to start working on the memoirs of a Dutchwoman, Klara. As a child in the Second World War, Klara was interned in a camp on Java during the Japanese occupation – she has an extraordinary story of survival to tell.

But as Jenni and Klara begin to get to know each other, Jenni begins to do much more than shed light on a neglected part of history. She is being forced to examine her own devastating memories, too. But with Klara’s help, perhaps this is finally the moment where she will be able to lay the ghosts of her own past to rest?

Gripping, poignant and beautifully researched, Ghostwritten is a story of survival and love, of memory and hope.


The Divorce Papers by Susan Rieger
Twenty-nine-year-old Sophie Diehl is happy toiling away as a criminal law associate at an old line New England firm where she very much appreciates that most of her clients are behind bars. Everyone at Traynor, Hand knows she abhors face-to-face contact, but one weekend, with all the big partners away, Sophie must handle the intake interview for the daughter of the firm’s most important client. After eighteen years of marriage, Mayflower descendant Mia Meiklejohn Durkheim has just been served divorce papers in a humiliating scene at the popular local restaurant, Golightly’s. She is locked and loaded to fight her eminent and ambitious husband, Dr. Daniel Durkheim, Chief of the Department of Pediatric Oncology, for custody of their ten-year-old daughter Jane—and she also burns to take him down a peg. Sophie warns Mia that she’s never handled a divorce case before, but Mia can’t be put off. As she so disarmingly puts it: It’s her first divorce, too.


The Time of Our Lives by Jane Costello
Three best friends. One five-star hotel. Will it be the holiday of a lifetime ...? Imogen and her friends Meredith and Nicola have had their fill of budget holidays, cattle-class flights and 6 a.m. offensives for a space by the pool. So when Meredith wins a VIP holiday at Barcelona's hippest new hotel, they plan to sip champagne with the jet set, party with the glitterati and switch off in unapologetic luxury. But when the worst crisis of her working life erupts back home, Imogen has to juggle her BlackBerry with a Manhattan, while soothing a hysterical boss and hunting down an AWOL assistant. Between a robbery, a run-in with hotel security staff and an encounter on a nudist beach that they'd all rather forget, the friends stumble from one disaster to the next. At least Imogen has a distraction in the form of the gorgeous guy who's always in the right place at the very worst time. Until, that is, his motives start to arouse a few suspicions ...