Book Review - The Minute I Saw You by Paige Toon

The Amazon Purchase link below is an Amazon Affiliate link.

Amazon UK

Title: The Minute I Saw You

Author: Paige Toon

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: 14th May 2020

Rating: 5 Stars

When Hannah meets Sonny, she's irresistibly drawn to him: he's sexy and confident, but only in town on holiday. That's fine with Hannah - she doesn't do long-term relationships. And luckily for her, neither does Sonny. But before they can even so much as kiss, Sonny receives some shocking news and commits to making serious life changes - ones that can't and won't include romance.

With even a short fling now off the cards, Hannah and Sonny settle for being friends. But as summer hots up and their chemistry shows no signs of cooling, they start to question their reasons for shutting each other out.

Are they both too broken to find love? And if they tear down the walls between them, will they still like what's on the other side?

Paige Toon was written another simply stunning story. 

I was hooked almost immediately and loved the blatant initial chemistry between Hannah and Sonny in their first meeting and was as confused as Hannah when a couple of weeks later he was like a different person. 

From then they start to see each other about and accept that they can only be friends - especially since Sonny is pledging abstinence for reasons not entirely divulged initially.   Equally Hannah is obviously holding something back about her life, which is why she has never really wanted to settle anywhere. 

In fact what Hannah was hiding, was so unexpected, I literally guessed it about 5 pages before the reveal, and even then I didn't fully guess.  And Sonny, I'd not have pegged what is in his past either. But it was the finding out about both them that is where the book seems to go up another notch. 

I loved Hannah's new friendships and her dog Bertie is adorable too. The first canoeing scene is fabulous in that respect, so amusing. 

I really enjoyed seeing just how close Hannah and Sonny could become while still maintaining there was nothing between them!  It is just a heart warming story that I found a joy to read. 

I found this this, like all of this authors books, to be a quick, easy to engage with book, that I didn't want to put down. 

Thank you Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - If You Could Go Anywhere by Paige Toon - #HolidayReading Thailand

The Amazon Purchase link below is an Amazon Affiliate link.

Amazon UK

Title: If You Could Go Anywhere

Author: Paige Toon

Format reviewed: Paperback

Source: Book Event

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: 16th May 2019

Rating: 5 Stars

Angie has always wanted to travel. But at 27, she has still never left her small mining town in the Australian outback. When her grandmother passes away, Angie finally feels free to see the world – until she discovers a letter addressed to the father she never knew and is forced to question everything.

As Angie sets off on her journey to find the truth – about her family, her past and who she really is – will enigmatic stranger Alessandro help guide the way?

Paige Toon has done it yet again and delivered a wonderful book, that had me almost crying poolside in places as I read it. 

Angie has always wanted to travel, but for various reasons has never really left her small mining community, in Coober Pedy, Australia, let alone gone abroad anywhere. 

When her beloved Nan dies, she is finally free to explore and by chance she discovers details about the father she had never met or known the name of.

Which leads to her flying to Rome for the summer to meet her remaining family for the first time.  And the gorgeous Alessandro is on hand to help translate and generally smooth things over.

I loved discovering just what secrets Alesssandro is hiding, and he is a far more complex character than you would realise at first glance.

There is not too much of the touristy bits of Rome, but we do get to see some other parts of Italy too, and since Giulio, her father, owns a restaurant, there is plenty of food mentioned.

I was hooked from the first few pages, as Paige explains what life is like for Angie, and then the travel aspect I was always going to adore. 

This is a wonderful story and a must for all Toon fans, or generally women's fiction with heart fans! I adored this book. 

Thank you to the Spring Blogger Evening at Simon & Schuster for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - Five Years From Now by Paige Toon

Amazon UK

Title: Five Years From Now

Author: Paige Toon

Format reviewed: Paperback

Source: Goody bag

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: 17th May 2018

Rating: 5 Stars

What if you met the right person at the wrong time?

Nell and Van meet as children when their parents fall in love, but soon they are forced worlds apart.

Five years later, they find each other.  Their bond is rekindled and new feelings take hold, but once again they must separate.

For the next two decades, fate brings Nell and Van together every five years, as life and circumstance continue to divide them. Will they ever find true happiness? And will it be together?

‘One day, maybe five years from now, you’ll look back and understand why this happened…’

What a beautiful story, so easy to read, and it tugged on the heart strings, but at the same time I suspect will have me later think back over my own life in 5 year chunks to see how things have changed, or what may have been the effect of something else. 

This is the story of Nell and Van, and how their lives intersect at 5 yearly intervals.  We meet them aged five when Nell's dad is living with Van's mum.  In a rollercoaster of emotion and life changing moments you are drawn  into their lives and over the few hours it took for me to devour this this book , I feel as though I have grown up alongside them. 

I loved getting to know both Nell and Van, along with their friends and the other locals in Cornwall that they grew up with.  There are plenty of unexpected turns in this book which just added to the one more page syndrome that I had while reading this. 

Read the book in two sittings, the majority of it sitting out in the garden, refusing to move or do more work until well I ran out of pages.   I was hooked on this story, although if you are a slower reader, the book is split into 5 year snapshots, so you could read a chapter and come back to the next knowing that the characters have grown a bit older in your absence. 

I totally love Paige Toon's books and her writing is as wonderful as ever before I have always found her books to be exceptionally quick to read and this was no exception,  it was a fabulous book to read on a hot spring day,  while mentally being in Cornwall with Nell and Van. 

Book Review & Giveaway - The Last Piece of My Heart by Paige Toon

Amazon UK

Title:  The Last Piece of My Heart

Author: Paige Toon

Format reviewed: Paperback

Source: Supplied by publisher

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

Publication Date: 18th May 2017

Rating: 5 Stars

When life feels like a puzzle, sometimes it's the small pieces that make up the bigger picture... Join Bridget on a journey to put her world back together.

A successful travel journalist, Bridget has ambitions to turn her quirky relationship blog about the missing pieces of her heart into a book. But after a spate of rejections from publishers, she accepts an alternative proposition.

Nicole Dupré died leaving behind a bestselling novel and an incomplete sequel. Tasked with finishing the book, Bridget is thankful to have her foot in the publishing door, even if it means relocating to Cornwall for the summer and answering to Nicole's grieving husband, Charlie...

Easily one of my favourite Paige Toon books of all time, I just couldn't get enough of it, and found myself whizzing through the pages, hungrily taking each one in, while also wishing against all hope that the book would last longer than it did, so I could enjoy it for longer. 

There are multiple levels of story in this book, all of which overlap and added to my general enjoyment of the book.  We have the story of travel writer Bridget, who is hoping to track down all of her ex-boyfriends to regain the pieces of her heart that they carried with them when they split up. She is writing these up on a relationship blog that she is hoping to turn into a novel. 

There is the story of her current relationship with Elliot, which is long distance, but he has encouraged this quest of old boyfriends and isn't jealous.  There is the story of Bridget who has been co-erced to ghost write the sequel to a best selling novel as her writing style is similar to the author of the first book, who unfortunately passed away shortly after publication. 

We have the story of Bridget and Charlie, the grieving husband, and his very young daughter April. He insists that Bridget works from their office in Cornwall, and seeing how Bridget interacts with them was interesting, especially while she was reading the diaries of the departed author, to try and get inside her head properly. 

And finally we have the story of Kit, Morris and Timo the main characters in the book that Bridget is needing to write. They aren't her characters originally and she has to make the tough decisions on what direction the book needs to go in. 

These form the main elements of the book, along with a stunning back drop of Cornwall. There are some research day trips out in Cornwall that really conjured up the feel of the place in my mind. However for me the star of the book is April. She is an absolutely adorable baby that really makes Bridget reassess whether she likes children. April may be too young to talk but her actions really did count for a thousand words! 

The Last Piece of My Heart is a beautifully told story, that I don't think I could have enjoyed any more than I did. I absolutely loved it! 

Thank you so much to SJV at Simon & Schuster for this copy of the book which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Giveaway to Win The Last Piece of My Heart (Europe Only)

I happen to have a spare copy of this fantastic book, which I am willing to giveaway to one lucky winner. 

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 1/06/2017. 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 The Last Piece of My Heart (Europe Only)

Book Review - I Knew You Were Trouble by Paige Toon

Amazon UK

Title: I Knew You Were Trouble - Jessie Jefferson Book 2

Author: Paige Toon

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's UK

Publication Date: 30th July 2015

Rating: 5 Stars

Life as the undercover daughter of a rock god isn't going to be easy. How will Jessie adjust to her old boring life again after spending her summer living it up with her dad in LA? With tough decisions ahead (and not just choosing between two hot boys), can she cope juggling her two very different lives? 

Summer may be over, but Jessie's story is just beginning…

I have been desperately wanting to get my hands on a copy of this book, from the second I finished The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson and it was definitely worth the wait. In fact my only complaint about this book is that I read it far too fast as I was so absorbed by it, and I fear I will have an even longer wait for book 3 in this fabulous series. 

Those of you who read my reviews regularly may have noticed I may be a bit of a Paige Toon fangirl, and having read this my opinions of her have gone up even higher. 

I Knew You Were Trouble deals with when Jessie returns to England, and having to go back to school, while knowing she is the daughter of Johnny Jefferson, but trying to act normal, It isn't before long that the press get wind of who she is, and then Jessie's life changes for ever. 

We see a lot of Jessie's friendships both with her school friends and new boyfriend Tom, but also the crowd she was hanging around with in Los Angeles last time around. The budding relationship with Tom, is very sweet, and it is clear he really cares about her. It is also good to see Jessie is making new friends at school and that an older friendship is starting to strengthen again. 

Although this can be read as a stand alone, I am so glad I had read the first one, as I find with series, the more you read, the better you get to know and love the characters. 

This is definitely true of Meg and Johnny. They are adjusting as well to having a new 15 year old daughter in their lives, and there are some lovely scenes between Johnny and Jessie. It is clear that he really loves her and is trying his hardest to be a father figure, and relations between Jessie and Meg seem a lot friendlier this time around. 

One of the things I love about this book is that it gives real insight into the crazy life of a teenager of famous parents, although the media frenzy surrounding Jessie was always going to be insane, since she is the "long lost daughter".  I think young adults especially that read this, that may be celebrity mad, will stop and think twice if instant celebrity is really what they want, after reading this book, as all Jessie really wants is a normal life, without bodyguards following her everywhere. She starts longing for the very things that the majority of people take for granted - privacy, anonymity, and to be able to decide which boy shes actually in love with!

I Knew You Were Trouble is a fabulous continuation of Jessie Jefferson's story. It is witty, upbeat and entertaining and just perfect to read over the summer holidays. And don't worry about it being a young adult title, older adults will enjoy this too, or at least I know I did. I loved every single second of this book, and read it in a matter of hours, as I couldn't bring myself to put it down. 

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Childrens for this review copy. This was my honest review. 

I Knew You Were Trouble is published today. Happy Publication day Paige. 

Book Review - The Sun in her Eyes by Paige Toon - Paperback Summer

Amazon UK

Title: The Sun in her Eyes

Author: Paige Toon

Format reviewed: Paperback

Source: Purchased

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

Publication Date: 21st May 2015

Rating: 4 Stars

Blinding sunshine... A bend in the road... What became of the little girl with the sun in her eyes? 

Amber was three when a car crash stole her mother's life. She doesn't remember the accident, but a stranger at the scene has been unable to forget. Now, almost thirty years later, she's trying to track Amber down. 

Amber, meanwhile, is married to Ned and living on the other side of the world in London. When her father has a stroke, she flies straight home to Australia to be with him. Away from her husband, Amber finds comfort in her oldest friends, but her feelings for Ethan, the gorgeous, green-eyed man she once fell for, have never been platonic. 

As Ethan and Amber grow closer, married life in London feels far away. Then Amber receives a letter that changes everything.

'Before your mother died, she asked me to tell you something...'

When Amber's father has a stroke, she knows she must return to Australia to help him recover. Her husband Ned however can't get away from work, having been recently promoted, so he stays in the UK. Amber not only has to help her father recover, she also gets a chance to catch up properly with her oldest friend. But of her feelings for Ethan, the man she has loved since she was 8 years old. 

Ethan is part of their friendship group, and is going through a divorce, and seems delighted that Amber is back for a while, even if the circumstances aren't great. 

When Amber was 3 years old she was involved in a car accident that killed her mother.  The only person who stopped to help them, has never forgotten Ambers mother's last words, and has always wanted to get back in touch with her to make sure not only that they were passed on, but to see what happened to the little 3 year old she helped. 

There are a couple of pages that are from the point of view of this bystander to the accident, but the rest of the book is completely from Amber's point of view.  Watching Amber take care of her recovering father is heart-warming, but she also seems to have reverted to teenagerdom too, with her squabbles with Liz (her dad's long term partner), and staying out late and getting drunk with her friends. 

I loved a lot of the times Ethan and Amber spent together, especially with Ethan's keen interest in wine, and working on a vineyard, brought up some wonderful imagery. I also loved how most of the book was set in Adelaide, Australia, somewhere that I would love to visit outside of a book one day, but for now I was more than happy to read descriptions of the location, and wish I was soaking up some of that sunshine!

I really enjoyed reading The Sun in her Eyes, but felt it was missing some of Paige Toon's normal spark in the book. It just seemed to be missing her usual magic touch, which is a shame. It is regardless a very good book, with a strong story. 

Rachel (left) and Paige Toon (right)

I was lucky enough to meet Paige Toon at her book signing on May 19th at Watermark Books, Kings Cross Station. It was an absolute pleasure to get a chance to chat to one of my favourite authors for a couple of mins, and of course get my copy of The Sun in her Eyes signed. 

I can only apologise for not reading the book and posting a review sooner. 

Book Review - The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson by Paige Toon

Add caption

Title:  The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson

Author: Paige Toon

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Purchased

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's UK

Publication Date: 30th January 2014

Rating: 5 Stars

Jessie has always wanted to find her real dad. But when her mum dies in a tragic accident, she thinks any hope of discovering the truth is gone too.

It isn't until Jessie goes off the rails, that her stepdad makes a shocking announcement: her father is legendary rock star and former hell-raiser, Johnny Jefferson. Suddenly finding herself the daughter of a global superstar, Jessie is soon sucked into the LA lifestyle - paparazzi, parties and hot guitar-wielding boys included!

But despite the excitement, Jessie's still reeling from her mother's death and the revelation about Johnny. Can he live up to her expectations and help her move on? One thing's for sure, Jessie's tiny little world has just got a whole lot bigger…

I was a bit apprehensive about starting this book as I don't tend to read Young Adult books, however since I absolutely love Paige Toon's adult books and enjoyed all the books so far that have featured Johnny Jefferson, I knew sooner or later I would read this.  And having heard that there is a sequel to this due out later this year, I decided to make sure I had read this.

So glad that I did, as this book provides all of Paige Toon's trademark warmth and humour, and turns them into an incredibly easy to read story, that was highly enjoyable. 

Jessie has gone off the rails a bit recently. She is reeling from her mum's tragic death, and is suddenly playing up to the troubled teen stereotype. She is living with her step dad Stuart (who is also a teacher at her school), and her mum had always refused to reveal the name of Jessie's "real dad". 

After asking her stepdad if he knows who her father is, she is told the whole story, and it turns out to be mega rock star Johnny Jefferson. Johnny is currently living in LA, and invites Jessie over for a week to get to know the family.

I loved all of Jessie's story, from the troubled teen, just trying to make sense of a world where her beloved mother dies in a freak accident, to what she gets up to in LA. During the book, she tests boundaries, and does start to mature a bit. 

The interactions between Jessie and Johnny, are as you may expect stilted at first, and then they blossom, especially once Johnny explains his version of the romance between himself and Jessie's mother. 

It has been years since I read a book about teens for teens, and it has made me remember my younger days of reading, when I would have loved this book and probably shared it around my class at school. As is often the case I was reading this on my commute, and I was blissfully unaware of many of the stops as I was enjoying the story so much.

This book shows that Paige can turn her hand to young adult books just as brilliantly as adult books. I am very much looking forward to her upcoming releases this year. 

I Knew You Were Trouble: A Jessie Jefferson Novel is out on the 30th July 2015.