Book Review - It Started With A Tweet by Anna Bell - #HolidayReading Book 29

Book 29 of 30 that I read on my holiday to Fuerteventura in December 2017

Amazon UK

Title: It Started With A Tweet

Author: Anna Bell

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Bonnier Zaffre

Publication Date: 27th December 2017

Rating: 5 Stars

Daisy Hobson lives her whole life online. 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. Soon, too, Daisy meets a welcome distraction there in Jack, the rugged man-next-door.

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? 

Utterly hilarious and a perfect way to spend a few hours while waiting for a transfer back the airport at the end of the holiday.  Of course I had I read this at any point over the previous 2 weeks I would have been saying generally that is a perfect poolside read.

From the fun and clearly social media addicted start of the book Daisy soon makes a vital error tweeting something inappropriate from the wrong twitter account, which since I now have multiples I can completely understand the fear. 

Her sister comes to the rescue after the errant tweet goes viral and encourages Daisy up to the wilds of Cumbria for a digital detox, plus her own ulterior motive too.

I loved every single second of this book, Daisy was just fabulous and Iliked the various men she met too - from Dominik that triggered the mess she is in, to Jack and Alexis out in the countryside. All 3 different but gorgeous!

I read this without stopping in about 4 and half hours give or take some eating of lunch simultaneously. I just couldn't and didn't want to put it down as I was enjoying myself so much. 

If like me you understand the addiction of social media the odds are you will also adore this book.  I'm also a massive fan of this authors writing and she is getting better and better with each book, and each fab idea for a story.  Wonder what the next one will bring.  

Thank you to Netgalley and Bonnier Zaffre for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - The Good Girlfriend's Guide to Getting Even by Anna Bell - #AroundTheUKIn144Books #Hampshire

Amazon UK

Title:  The Good Girlfriend's Guide to Getting Even

Author: Anna Bell

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Bonnier Zaffre

Publication Date: 26th January 2017

Rating: 5 Stars

When Lexi's sport-mad boyfriend Will skips her friend's wedding to watch football - after pretending to have food poisoning - it might just be the final whistle for their relationship.

But fed up of just getting mad, Lexi decides to even the score. And, when a couple of lost tickets and an 'accidentally' broken television lead to them spending extra time together, she's delighted to realise that revenge might be the best thing that's happened to their relationship.

And if her clever acts of sabotage prove to be a popular subject for her blog, what harm can that do? It's not as if he'll ever find out . . .

Fun and laughter by the page, in this impossibly long titled book! I have barely been able to keep the big grin off my face, as I have followed Lexi's story with her sports mad boyfriend. 

Set to a backdrop of sport, be it on TV, or real life fixtures, it is what Lexi has to live her life around, due to Will's sporting obsession. He is a life long, and season ticket holder of The Saints (Southampton FC), and everything is set in motion when he claims to have a massive stomach upset, to get out of going to Lexi's best friend's wedding, whereas in truth he caught out at the football. 

Lexi rather understandably wasn't too happy, but instead of confronting Will, she starts exacting small but amusing acts of revenge, in an effort to try and make Will learn he can live without some sport. Lexi is also an aspiring author, and when her writing class discuss marketing and have the participants create blogs, Lexi starts one about her revenge  - The Good Girlfriend's Guide to Getting Even!

There is a rather light hearted sense of amusement to the whole book, and I loved the inventive depths Lexi went to, although at some points, as a massive sport lover myself, I was finding myself in sympathy with Will, despite finding Lexi funny. 

If you don't like sports, don't worry, there is very little, nitty gritty details about any of them. Sport is the background to the novel, but more as the collective than specifics. There is mention of all sorts of sporting events, but there are only a few live matches that Lexi attends, and even then the description are more of the atmosphere than what was happening on the pitch. 

Incredibly entertaining story that I really enjoyed, complete with a sex mad best friend, a gorgeous colleague where Lexi works, a couple of  holidays, plenty of revenge and an ending that pleased me greatly. 

Thank you to Bonnier Zaffre and Netgalley for this copy of the book, which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Giveaway - Christmas at Lilac Cottage by Holly Martin

Today is paperback publication day for one of my favourite Holly Martin books - Christmas at Lilac Cottage. It was previously released in ebook only last year, but now you will be able to hopefully see it on bookshop shelves. And to celebrate, I just happen to have my hands on a copy already, that I am giving away to one lucky winner, and I must say it looks gorgeous.

Amazon UK

Welcome to the charming seaside town of White Cliff Bay, where Christmas is magical and love is in the air…

Penny Meadows loves her home – a cosy cottage decorated with pretty twinkling fairy lights and stunning views over the town of White Cliff Bay. She also loves her job as an ice-carver, creating breathtaking sculptures. Yet her personal life seems frozen. 

When Henry and daughter Daisy arrive at the cottage to rent the annex, Penny is determined to make them feel welcome. But while Daisy is friendly, Henry seems guarded. 

As Penny gets to know Henry, she realises there is more to him than meets the eye. And the connection between them is too strong to ignore… 

While the spirit of the season sprinkles its magic over the seaside town and preparations for the ice sculpting competition and Christmas eve ball are in full swing, can Penny melt the ice and allow love in her heart? And will this finally be the perfect Christmas she’s been dreaming of? 

Check out my 5 Star review from last year!

Giveaway - Win a paperback of Christmas at Lilac Cottage (Open to Europe Only)

I have a beautiful paperback copy of Christmas at Lilac Cottage to give away. 

Giveaway open to Europe only, all options are voluntary, but please do what they ask, as I will be verifying the winner. Giveaway closes 23:59 27/10/2016. Winner will be announced on twitter and emailed, and they will need to reply within 7 days, or forfeit the prize, and I will re-draw for a new winner.  Good luck everyone.

Win a paperback of Christmas at Lilac Cottage (Open to Europe Only)

Book Review - Cut To The Bone by Alex Caan - Rachel Reads Randomly Book #34

Amazon UK

Title:  Cut To The Bone

Author: Alex Caan

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: twenty7

Publication Date: 14th July 2016

Rating: 4 Stars

One Missing Girl. Two Million Suspects.

Ruby is a vlogger, a rising star of YouTube and a heroine to millions of teenage girls.

And she's missing . . .

But she's an adult - nothing to worry about, surely?

Until the video's uploaded . . .

Ruby, in the dirt, pleading for her life.

Enter Detective Inspector Kate Riley; the Met's rising star and the head of a new team of investigators with the best resources money can buy. Among them, Detective Sergeant Zain Harris, the poster boy for multiracial policing. But can Kate wholly trust him - and more importantly, can she trust herself around him?

As hysteria builds amongst the press and Ruby's millions of fans, Kate and her team are under pressure to get results, and fast, but as they soon discover, the world of YouTube vloggers and social media is much darker than anyone could have imagined.

And the videos keep coming . . .

Cut to the Bone was a book that had really attracted my interest, as I have recently become hooked on a couple of You Tuber's channels, so very curious to see a bit of the behind the scenes action as such. 

What became very apparent early on in this book, is that it is very hard to trust any of the information that is being revealed, or at least you need to remember it all and try to make sense of it all, but there are so many leads, hooks, red herrings and twists and turns as the story progresses that I was left reeling at the end of it. 

At times the sheer quantity of information and various threads made me have to put the book down for a bit while I processed the new leads, before I was able to continue. The story touches on all manner of issues, some of which were a lot more disturbing than others. 

As is often the case when I review a thriller I am being deliberately vague as to the details, purely for fear of accidentally giving away any of the plot that could be key. I was though fascinated by all the geeky technological details that were used, and all of Detective Sergeant Zain Harris' unorthodox methods of acquiring data from computers. I understood quite a lot of the details and its a stark reminder that you leave a digital footprint with every action you take online, and that even deleted data can be recovered in skilled hands. 

The main detective Kate Riley is hiding something in her personal life, and as her past is slowly revealed, I couldn't help but feel a lot of empathy for her, as she has had to make some quite difficult decisions in the past. 

Cut To The Bone is written in many short chapters, which is great for when you think just one more chapter, and the pacing is very good. At all times I was intrigued by the story, even if I wasn't 100% hooked, I definitely realised early on I had no idea at all who was behind Ruby's disappearance, but that I really wanted to know who it was, and why. 

This is a great debut thriller, and I really hope this isn't the last we will be seeing of Detectives Zain and Kate. 

Thank you to Bonnier Zaffre and Netgalley for this review copy. This was my honest opinion. 

It became apparent to me quite early on Monday that this would be the runaway leader from last weeks vote, and I can certainly see why so many of you are raving about it. It really is a contemporary thriller that keeps you on your toes. Thanks to everyone that voted for it, and please do see this weeks selection and have your say again. 

Guest Post & Giveaway - Ella's Secret York by Sophie Nicholls - Blog Tour

At the time that I wrote my novel, The Dress, I had been living in York for seven years – and it seemed the obvious place to set my story. 

Anyone who has ever visited this ancient walled city in the North East of England will know that it’s difficult not to be inspired just by walking around. As well as the soaring thirteenth century Gothic edifice that is York Minster, there are cobbled streets, stone gargoyles, lopsided beams and a network of ‘snickleways’ – narrow passageways that wend their way between the main streets –
 everywhere you look. 

But it was one particular courtyard, tucked away off Grape Lane – and one particular shop with beautiful curved windows – that fuelled my fantasies when I was writing the story of Fabia and Ella Moreno, the mother and daughter who arrive in York to set up their vintage dress shop. 

Priestley’s Vintage is an enticing place, full of beautifully curated high-end and designer vintage. You stumble across it, like a delicious secret, as you duck under the low beams into Norman Court. It’s easy to imagine a story unfolding in such a place. 

And, in fact, York is a city of secrets. When Ella, one of my characters, arrives in the city, she’s intrigued by what she can see from her bedroom window – the jumble of higgledy-piggledy rooftops, the glimpses of the Minster in the moonlight. 

But away from the main tourist attractions – the Minster, the Treasurer’s House, the Walls – are other layers of history, as Ella discovers as she begins to explore. Katrina Cushworth, Ella’s school friend (if that is the right word), lives in one of the graceful Georgian townhouses that line The Mount. Billy and his family live in the rows of terraces that lead down to the river, originally built for workers in the Terry’s and Rowntree’s chocolate factories. 

York is also a city of bridges and one of the scenes from the book takes place on the new Millennium Bridge. Unlike the older stone bridges, this one is an ambitious curve of steel and wood. 

When I was working on The Dress, I imagined the map that Ella might sketch in her journal of some of these ‘secret’ landmarks. 

If you walk away from the city centre along the riverbank – or even take a boat trip along the River Ouse (and has there ever been a better name for a river?),  you’ll quickly find yourself in a different York altogether. If you look hard enough, down in the long grass by the boat moorings, you might even find a rickety swimming platform or a rope swing. 

Or you may prefer to while away your time rummaging through the second hand book shops, vintage clothing shops and antique emporiums that you’ll find throughout the city. I’m sure there are many more stories there just waiting to happen. 

Thank you Sophie for that interesting look at York.

Giveaway - Win 3 x paperbacks of The Dress (Open to Europe only)

Amazon UK

Carmen Jimenez at Bonnier Zaffre has kindly donated 3 copies of the The Dress to be given away to lucky winners. 

Giveaway open to Europe Only, all options are voluntary, but please do what they ask, as I will be verifying the winner. Giveaway closes 23:59 5/8/2016. Winner will be announced on twitter and emailed, and they will need to reply within 7 days, or forfeit the prize, and I will re-draw for a new winner.  Good luck everyone.


Win 3 x paperbacks of The Dress (Open to Europe only)



About Sophie Nicholls

Sophie Nicholls is an Amazon bestselling author. The Dress is her first novel – which hit the Kindle Top 5 in 2012, and is followed by two further books in the well-loved ‘The Dress Trilogy”.

She is an award-winning poet and leads the MA Creative Writing Distance Learning at Teesside University. She lives in North Yorkshire, in the North of England with her partner and young daughter. She likes swimming outdoors and eating large quantities of very dark chocolate.


www.sophienicholls.com // @wordsauce


Don't forget to check out what Sophie Nicholls had to say at the other stops on this blog tour.