Book Review - Plan Bea by Hilary Grossman

Amazon UK

Title: Plan Bea

Author: Hilary Grossman

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Booktrope

Publication Date: 8th October 2015

Rating: 5 Stars

We live our entire lives thinking we know those closest to us. But do we ever really?

On the outside, Annabel O'Conner has it all - the perfect husband, two adorable children, an amazing job, and a mother from hell! Just when she gives up trying to regain her overbearing mother's love, an unexpected call turns her world around and makes Annabel question everything she believes about her life. 

Could falling in love give a cold, stubborn, and selfish woman a second chance to open her heart back up to her family?

Beatrice Buchanan has spent more years than she can remember distancing herself from everyone close to her. She barely has a relationship with her grandchildren. The only time she manages to have a one way conversation with her daughter is during her weekly fifteen-minute commute to the nail salon. When Bea meets Walter on a cruise she realizes there may be more to life than designer clothes, killer handbags, and impressing the ladies at her posh country club. 

I have this sometimes very frustrating habit of either deciding I want to read a book either by its cover, or by the author and barely glancing at the blurb until I've started reading. Plan Bea was one such book and as a result, from the first few pages it was clear it was going to have a different focus to it, to whatever I had been thinking. However I am so glad it was written the way it was, as its a brilliant story. 

Plan Bea is a story about Annabel's relationship with her mother Bea. For many years they have been almost estranged, and it isn't until Bea meets Walter, that she starts to soften around the edges and talk to her daughter properly. 

Bea involves Annabel in the planning of her wedding, and despite Annabel having far too many other commitments, such as her two children, husband and job, she agrees, in an effort to gain her mother's approval. 

Bea is a cold hearted woman and has her reasons for being the way she is. During the time Bea and Annabel spend together a lot is revealed, all of which explains the reasoning behind why Bea is the way she is.  And as the revelations start to come you can sense a potential for thawing the mother-daughter relationship. 

There is a twist towards the end of the book that I wasn't expecting, but its an entirely pleasant one, and fitted the story perfectly. 

I found Plan Bea to be written in an engaging way, that is easy to read, and its quite a quick story to read too. The pacing is good, and there was a good selection of characters to like. This was the first book I had read by Hilary Grossman and I can't wait to find the time to sit and read Dangled Carat, as if this is a good example of the authors writing, then I'm sure her other book will be good too. 

Thank you so much Booktrope and Netgalley for this review copy. This was my honest opinion. 

Book Review - How Do You Know? by Meredith Schorr

Amazon UK

Title: How Do You Know?

Author: Meredith Schorr

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Review copy supplied by ChickLitPlus

Publisher: Booktrope

Publication Date: 2nd December 2014

Rating: 3.5 Stars

What if you were approaching the end of your thirties and all of the life milestones you took for granted in your youth suddenly seemed out of reach? 

On the eve of her thirty-ninth birthday, Maggie Piper doesn’t look, act, or feel much different than she did at twenty-nine, but with her fortieth birthday speeding toward her like a freight train, she wonders if she should. The fear of a slowing metabolism, wrinkling of her skin, and the ticking of her biological clock leaves Maggie torn between a desire to settle down like most of her similarly aged peers and concern that all is not perfect in her existing relationship. When a spontaneous request for a temporary “break” from her live-in boyfriend results in a “break-up,” Maggie finds herself single once again and only twelve months from the big 4.0. In the profound yet bumpy year that follows, Maggie will learn, sometimes painfully, that life doesn’t always happen on a schedule, there are no deadlines in love, and age really is just a number. 

In this mature coming of age novel, Meredith Schorr, best-selling author of light women’s fiction, digs deep and raises the age old issue of the ‘proverbial clock’ that haunts many women,in a way that is refreshing and sassy no matter your age or relationship status.

I have a weird feeling I am around 8 years too young to fully appreciate this book, on the grounds that I'm just into my thirties and not quite dreading turning 40 yet. However I can see where Maggie Piper was coming from for the entire book, and I was engaged in the story. 

There was a lot of self-doubt in this book as to whether Maggie had done the right thing of breaking up with her boyfriend of 3 years, and whether she really knew what she wanted in a relationship. She was definitely scared of the big "four oh" and you were reminded of this fact fairly regularly, while discovering her life in he 39th year. 

There are assorted dating mishaps, general clumsiness, a group of very good friends, a close slightly unconventional family, and quite a lot of fun to be had while Maggie tries to work out what she really wants from life. 

I enjoyed reading this book, and the story was good, I just felt like it could have been more gripping, and could have hooked me in a lot further. 

This is a light hearted, amusing romantic comedy, by an author I would like to read more of.

Thank so Chick Lit Plus for this review copy. This was my honest review.