Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Escape to the Rome Apartment by Kerry Fisher

                                                  


Ebook:  271 pages                                                                                                

Genre: Contemporary Romantic Fiction 

Publisher: April 11th 2024 Bookouture

Source: Net Galley - On My Kindle

First Sentence: Lainey's last letter was a gift and a guilt trip rolled into one.

Review Quote: ‘It has very positive messages about living your best life, but you have to work hard to find yourself and change it… The descriptions of Rome are amazing… I loved all the characters. A wonderful read.’ Goodreads Reviewer

My Opinion:  

Although Kerry Fisher has published a long list of novels since 2012 I have only just come across her writing and this is the first one I have read. ‘Escape to the Rome Apartment’ came to my attention being an Italophile. It is Book 3 of a series The Italian Escape, however that made no difference to my enjoyment of this story, as it stood alone perfectly.

Sara the middle aged protagonist embarks on a journey of self-discovery whilst carrying out her deceased best friends last wishes. The descriptions of her time in Italy transported me back to Milano, Firenze and Roma once again. I felt I was there with her, every step of the way as the story developed.

My love of Italy was definitely satisfied by this uplifting feel good read. Would recommend to lovers of romance and or Italy. Thanks to Net Galley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this novel.



Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:


Sara’s eyes fill with tears as she reads the letter, her last words from her dearest ‘I’m buying you your freedom. You don’t need to ask your husband’s permission and you have to put yourself first for once. Have an incredible adventure before it’s too late for both of us…’Sara has lost her zest for life. Trapped sharing a house with her soon-to-be-ex-husband, with grown-up children who still need her but take her for granted, working in a job where her boss bullies her, the final straw is the heartbreak of losing her beloved best friend Lainey. But Lainey’s death could be the beginning of Sara’s new life… as the last gift Lainey gives to her friend is a sum of money and Sara travels to Italy, the scene of the pair’s youthful adventures, and scatters Lainey’s ashes on the beach at Portofino. For once, Sara decides to be brave. She quits her job, tells her family they can manage without her, and sets off on the trip of a lifetime. Swept up by new friends and relishing the freedom of being away from home in beautiful Florence, Sara finds herself drawn to Carlo. Handsome and charming, he is everything Sara finds it so hard to be carefree, impulsive, living in the moment without worrying about the future. And then Sara sees something she shouldn’t… and discovers a secret about Carlo that makes her question everything she thought she knew. Stuck at a crossroads in her life and her travels, she can’t face returning home yet, but nor is she brave enough to continue the challenge that Lainey set her. And then she meets an English woman who tells her about an apartment in Rome, that could just be the answer to everything…Return to the sunny streets of beautiful Rome with this heart-warming and romantic story about discovering your true path in life.



Author Profile

                                                                
                                                     

                                                            Courtesy of Goodreads                                       

For Biographical Information please visit the Kerry Fisher Website


Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites.

Goodreads Author Page.   Kerry Fisher Website.   Facebook Profile - Kerry Fisher

Twitter - Kerry Fisher Author


Monday, March 4, 2024

The Library by Bella Osborne.


                                               The Library


Ebook:  384 pages                                                                                                

Genre: Contemporary Fiction 

Publisher: Aria and Aries, Sept 2021

Source: My Kindle

First Sentence: My name is Tom Harris and I am invisible.

Review Quote: 'It's hard to convey what a charming, affecting, uplifting and entertaining read it is' My Weekly

Favourite Quote:   An embrace can be on many different levels but the basic sensation of emotional and physical warmth given freely by another is most noticeable when it is no longer there.

Main Characters: Tom, a youngster about to take his exams and Maggie a pensioner


My Opinion:  

A delightful story about a friendship between a lively but only pensioner and a shy, grieving teenage boy.  A chance meeting in the local village library leads gradually to a close bond between the two of them.


The reader travels on an emotional journey with the protagonists Tom and Maggie as they both navigate, with each others help some personal issues.


Throughly recommend this heart warming read, as it tackles recognisable themes that give it a wide appeal.




Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:


Two different generations. Two unusual people. Thrown together to save their local library.
Tom is a teenager and blends into the background of life. After a row with his dad, and facing an unhappy future at the dog food factory, he escapes to the library. Tom unwittingly ends up with a bagful of romance novels and comes under the suspicion of Maggie.

Maggie is a pensioner and has been happily alone for ten years, at least that's what she tells herself. When Tom comes to her rescue, a friendship develops that could change her life. As Maggie helps Tom to stand up for himself, Tom helps Maggie realise the mistakes of her past don't have to define her future.

They each set out to prove that the library isn't just about books – it's the heart of their community.

Together they discover some things are worth fighting for.



Author Profile


                                                     
Bella Osborne

                                                            Courtesy of Goodreads                                       

Bella has been jotting down stories as far back as she can remember but decided that 2013 would be the year that she finished a full length novel. Since then she’s written a number of best-selling romantic comedies and book club reads and won the RNA Romantic Comedy Novel of the Year Award 2022.

Bella's stories are about friendship, love and coping with what life throws at you. She likes to find the humour in the darker moments of life and weaves these into her stories. Her novels are often serialised in four parts ahead of the full book publication.

Bella lives in The Midlands, UK with her husband, daughter and a cat who thinks she’s a dog. When not writing Bella is usually eating custard creams and planning holidays.


Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites.

Goodreads Author Page.    Amazon Author Profile.    Twitter Profile

Bella Osborne - Author Website.    Instagram Profile.    Facebook Author Page

Saturday, March 2, 2024

Broken Light by Joanne Harris

 

                                              

Hardback:  420 pages

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Publisher: Orion 2023

Source: Tywyn Public Library

First Sentences: The first seven years of my life are a blank. I don't remember a thing before that. Most children remember something of their early years, but not me.

Review Quote:   'Blazes with anger and sorrow' MARIAN KEYES

My Opinion: Having been a fan of this author for many years I was looking forward to reading ‘Broken Light’. Joanna has I think a very individual style of writing that in my opinion doesn’t compare to anyone else, that I have read anyway.

‘Broken Light’ is a cruel story about the invisibility of middle aged women. The menopausal protagonist has paranormal tendencies which makes for an intriguing and at times terrifying read.


Strong and emotionally driven characters built around some important current issues in modern society discern this recommended read. A great choice for some lively Book Club discussion.


Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:

Bernie Moon is feeling invisible. She's given her life to other people - her husband, her son, her mother, her friends (not that she has any of them left). At 16, she was full of promise and power. Now, facing 50, she's a fading light.

But when a young woman is killed in her local area, it sparks childhood memories of a talent she used to have, one long since hidden.

She said she'd never use it again.

She knows it could destroy not only her, but everyone around her.

Bernie Moon is no longer invisible, but is everyone else ready for what she's about to become?
 


Author Profile:

Joanne Harris

Goodreads  Author photo.

About Joanne Harris (courtesy of her official website)

Joanne Harris (OBE, FRSL) was born in Barnsley in 1964, of a French mother and an English father. She studied Modern and Mediaeval Languages at Cambridge and was a teacher for fifteen years, during which time she published three novels, including Chocolat (1999), which was made into an Oscar-nominated film starring Juliette Binoche .

Since then, she has written 19 more novels, plus novellas, short stories, game scripts, the libretti for two short operas, several screenplays, a stage musical (with Howard Goodall) and three cookbooks. Her books are now published in over 50 countries and have won a number of British and international awards. She is an honorary Fellow of St Catharine’s College, Cambridge, has honorary doctorates in literature from the universities of Sheffield and Huddersfield, and has been a judge for the Whitbread Prize, the Orange Prize, the Desmond Elliott Prize, the Betty Trask Award, the Prima Donna Prize  and the Royal Society Winton Prize for Science, as well as for the Fragrance Foundation awards for perfume and perfume journalism (for which she also received an award in 2017). She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2022.

She is a passionate advocate for authors’ rights, and was the Chair of the Society of Authors (SOA) for four years. She is currently a member of the Board of the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS).

Her hobbies are listed in Who’s Who as: “mooching, lounging, strutting, strumming, priest-baiting and quiet subversion of the system”, although she also enjoys obfuscation, sleaze, rebellion, witchcraft, armed robbery, tea and biscuits. She is not above bribery and would not necessarily refuse an offer involving perfume, diamonds,  foreign travel or pink champagne. She works from a shed in her garden, plays in the band she first joined when she was 16, and lives with her husband in a little wood in Yorkshire.


The biographical information and photo used in this post are with thanks to the following websites, where you can also find more information about the author and her writing. 


Amazon Author Profile - Joanne Harris    Official Website - Joanne Harris  

 Goodreads Author Profile

Thursday, February 29, 2024

One of the Girls by Lucy Clarke

 

                                              


Hardback:  434 pages                                                                                                

Genre: Contemporary Fiction and Thriller

Publisher: Harper Collins 2022

Source: Tywyn Public Library

First Sentence: Later, we would all remember the hen weekend for one reason: because of what happened the night of the beach fire.

Review Quote: ‘An addictive sun-soaked thriller’MARIE CLAIRE

Main Characters: Lexi, Robyn, Fen, Bella, Ana and Eleanor

Setting: The fictional island of Legos in Greece.

My Opinion:  

Lucy Clarke writes destination thrillers and this time the setting is the fictional Greek island of Aegos. Right from the very first page the reader is made aware that there is going to be a murder. This keeps the tension utmost throughout the novel and definitely kept me guessing!


A hen party is taking place and each of the six protagonists, Lexi, Robyn, Fen, Bella, Ana and Eleanor take turns in narrating. Everyone is on edge and hiding secrets which are gradually revealed as events escalate over the weekend.


Transport yourself to Greece, with sunshine, secrets and complex relationships plus a murder with this engrossing read.



Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:


A twisty psychological thriller from internationally-bestselling author Lucy Clarke, One of the Girls is the delicious story of a bachelorette trip on a stunning Greek island... that ends in murder.

It was supposed to be the perfect weekend away. Six very different women travel to a sun-soaked Greek island for a bachelorette trip, to celebrate Lexi’s upcoming wedding. From the glorious ocean views to the quaint tavernas and whitewashed streets, the vacation seems too good to be true. But dangerous undercurrents run beneath the sunset swims and midnight cocktails – because each of the women is hiding a secret. Someone is determined to make sure that Lexi’s marriage never happens – and that one of them doesn’t leave the island alive.

Gripping, twisty, and full of sun-soaked suspense, this timely thriller examines the joys of female friendship…as well as the deadly consequences when a relationship goes wrong.


Author Profile


Lucy Clarke          


Lucy Clarke, novelist, traveller and fresh air enthusiast is the author of eight destination thrillers. They include Waterstones Thriller of the Month, The Castaways, Richard and Judy Book Club pick, One of the Girls, and most recently, The Hike. Lucy's novels have sold over a million copies and are published in more than 25 territories worldwide.

Lucy's thriller, No Escape (also published as The Blue) has been released as a major international show for Paramount+. Set in the Philippines, the seven-part series is directed by Hans Herbot (The Serpent) and stars Abigail Lawrie and Rhianne Barreto as best friends Lana and Kitty.

The Castaways has also been adapted for screen and was The Guardian Pick of the Week. BAFTA award-winner Sheridan Smith stars as Lori, and Celine Buckens plays her sister, Erin. The five-part thriller is available to stream on Paramount+.

When Lucy isn't away on research trips (the real reason she loves being an author!), she can be found writing from a beach hut on the south coast of England. She lives with her husband and their two children.




Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites.


Goodreads Author Page   Facebook - Lucy Clarke    Instagram - Lucy Clarke Author


Official Author Website    Amazon Author Page