Book Review - A Summer Romance by Lynda Renham

Amazon UK

Title: A Summer Romance (The Little Perren Romances Book 3)

Author: Lynda Renham

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Author supplied review copy

Publisher: Raucous Publishing

Publication Date: 1st July 2016

Rating: 5 Stars

A Summer Romance is the sequel and conclusion to A Village Romance.

Milly settles into her new job but does her boss, Ashley Wilmot-Fox, have secrets that he is hiding in Briar Lodge? Will he be able to help Milly fight the ghosts from her past? Will Billy’s blundering romance last, and will Rafe’s secret affair be exposed? As the villagers prepare for their summer fete they have no idea what will be revealed on that day. 

Funny, Compassionate and Sizzling Sexy, A Summer Romance is a page-turning summer read. 

A Summer Romance is the sequel to A Village Romance and is the third book in the Little Perran series by Lynda Renham writing as Amy Perfect.

A Summer Romance is the continuation of A Village Romance, and turns what was a good first half, into a brilliant second half. Due to it being a direct continuation, I would recommend reading both of them in order as close together as possible, so as to get the full flow and feel for the story. 

This story regularly had me laughing out loud, at various things that Billy has said, or some of the comical situations that occurred as Little Perran get ready for their summer fete.  This is scandalous raunchy romance between two people that have a clear chemistry, especially after it becomes apparent just how much her current partner is abandoning her. 

Milly is working for Ashley, who recently moved to the village, and she is central to a couple of the big storylines that occur. She is hiding a past that unfortunately soon catches up with her, and at the same time has a new blossoming romance of her own. 

In one of the hottest summers in Little Perran, pulses are racing, temperatures are soaring and not just due to the weather. There is a good helping of drama that had me on the edge of my seat a it unfolded. A Summer Romance contains a fantastic mix of romance, drama, comedy, sex, gossip and scandal - what more could you want from a summery book?

Thank you to Raucous Publishing and Lynda Renham for this review copy. This was my honest opinion. 

Book Review - A Village Romance by Lynda Renham

Amazon UK

Title: A Village Romance (The Little Perren Romances Book 2)

Author: Lynda Renham writing as Amy Perfect

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Review copy from author

Publisher: Raucous Publishing

Publication Date: 25th June 2016

Rating: 3.5 Stars

As a heatwave rolls into Little Perran, so does love. Billy Baxter, the has-been rock star, and Rafe Wylde, the hunky farm worker arrive, both destined to cause havoc as they touch the lives of the villagers. Milly finds a new job and things start to look up for her, but she is unaware that a ghost from her past is looking for her. 

Funny, Compassionate and Sizzling Sexy, a Village Romance is a page-turning summer read. A Village Romance is the second book in The Little Perran Romance series by Lynda Renham writing as Amy Perfect. 

A Village Romance is the second book in The Little Perran Romance series, and can definitely be read as a standalone novella from A Christmas Romance. However my gut feeling is you will want to read this and move straight onto book 3 in the series, based on it not feeling like this had wrapped up loose ends. 

The ending has unsettled me, I knew the book was short, but it just felt incomplete, as though the whole aim of this book is to get you to buy book 3 to get the answers. It's a good amount of set up and some story progression and I am curious to where this series is going. 

Now that I have got the niggle out of the way, I should mention just how enjoyable this story was. Billy Baxter is an ageing rock star, and in his first chapter when he was being persuaded a move to the country would be good for his image, the amount of things he came out with that had me giggling was impressive. He is politically incorrect and he doesn't exactly fit smoothly into life in Little Perran. 

There is another newcomer to the village too, Ashley, but we don't know much about him yet apart from that he is a kind natured person who suffered a horrible accident and he is re-adjusting to life, in a new village where he isn't pestered continually by well-wishers. 

Some of the characters from the first book were back and it was great to catch up with them all, there are new romances simmering all over the village and I suspect that the next book is going to be full of drama. 

A Village Romance is full of Lynda Renham's trademark humour and is an enjoyable story on the whole. I am eagerly awaiting starting on A Summer Romance to see whether any of my suspicions are correct and to hopefully gain closure on some of the plots that felt started but not completed.

Overall its lovely to be back in Little Perran, I love the village and its cast of characters, but my irritation at how this book has finished, has slightly marred my perspective. 

Thank you to Lynda Renham and Raucous Publishing for this review copy. This was my honest opinion. 

Book Review - Perfect Weddings by Lynda Renham

Amazon UK

Title: Perfect Weddings

Author: Lynda Renham

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Author supplied review copy

Publisher: Raucous Publishing

Publication Date: 12th April 2016

Rating: 5 Stars

Every bride wants a perfect wedding and that includes Georgina Winters. Amy Perfect is the crème de la crème of wedding planners so who best to plan Georgina s wedding... except the man Georgina plans to marry is the same man who jilted Amy three years ago. Will her plan to give Georgina the most imperfect wedding backfire on her? Is this the chance for Amy to win back the love of her life, or will insufferable Ben Garret put a spanner in the works? Arab princes, spoilt brides and wedding catastrophes make Perfect Weddings a page-turning romantic comedy that will keep you guessing until the very last page.

Three years earlier, Amy is jilted on her wedding day. Completely convinced that it was because of her weight, she undergoes a major health kick and then has an epiphany when someone says something to her. She realises that instead of being a mortician, she should become a wedding planner, as she did such a good job on her own wedding (just a shame about the groom). 

Coming into the present, Amy has reinvented herself as Amy Perfect, and is the top wedding planner in London, specialising in making perfect weddings. That is until the day she has a phone call from a potential new client, Georgina Winters, who is marrying Amy's ex-fiance. 

To say Amy has a bit of a minor breakdown for the majority of the book would be putting it mildly as she flits from one funny situation to another, all because she is willing to risk the reputation of the company and try to get her ex back, without anyone realising who she is. 

Perfect Weddings is a fantastic romantic comedy that I couldn't put down. I had to keep turning the pages to see what sticky situations Amy was going to end up in next. The scene with picking up the Sheikh from the airport is memorable, for all the wrong reasons. I could help but laugh as I pictured it. 

Then there is the bride's maid of honor, who is bonkers, Amy's best friend who thinks everything is unhealthy, Amy's continual needing of Rescue Life pills, a lot of mentions of dieting and food, another new client from Saff-end and a whole mix of other clients to make things wonderfully chaotic at times. 

I love Lynda Renham's writing style which is fast paced, laugh a minute and very chatty, as though Amy was talking to her best friend. The question of course that ran through my head the whole way through was whether Georgina would get her perfect wedding, and just who would Amy end up with. 

With all manner of crazy outings, and outlandish situations, Perfect Weddings really hit my funny bone and had me amused the entire time I was reading it.  

Thank you to Lynda Renham for this review copy. This was my honest opinion. 

Funday Friday - Truth or Lie? - Lynda Renham - Month 1 Week 2

Welcome to the second ever edition of Truth of Lie. My name is Rachel and I will be your host, for this exciting new game show. Each Friday, I will have one contestant, and they will be answering at least 14 questions. There is of course one small twist, 

For three of the answers, they have to lie. It is your task as the viewer to guess which three answers are lies. You are allowed 3 guesses and I want them posted into the comments field. 

Every 4 weeks, I will close the guessing, count up how many correct answers each of you has, and create a leaderboard. Anyone who is top of the leaderboard, will go into a draw for a paperback of the winners choice (open internationally). 

Please do include a way for me to contact you (email or twitter or similar), so that I can let you know if you have won. 

The weekend after a 4 week period closes, not only will I produce a leaderboard, and announce a winner, I will also let you know into the true answers, and which were the lies.  

Closing date for the first month is 11pm on 19th May 2016. 

So without further ado, let's meet today's contestant. 

Good morning contestant, please can you tell me your name and a little bit about yourself?

Hello, I’m  Lynda Renham. I write romantic comedy.  My new novel ‘Perfect Weddings’ is now available. I have a fun blog and you can find me at www.renham.co.uk

Please to meet you Lynda, I have read Perfect Weddings and loved it, and my review will be up tomorrow morning! 

Now onto the show, and remember everyone, Lynda hasn't been entirely truthful with three of these answers, so it is up to you to guess which ones they are (only 3 guesses per person though). 

 1) Who is your favourite author?

I have many but at present my favourite author is Tammy Cohen. I like a good gripping read

2) What book do you wish you had written?

The Godfather by Mario Puzo. What a brilliant read.

3) Tell me about any really memorable dream or nightmare you have had

A dream where my late father came to visit us. That was a memorable dream.

4) What was your most memorable holiday ever?

Two idyllic weeks in the Bahamas. Very relaxing and luxurious. 

5) If you could be an animal what would you be and why?

A cat. I could sleep a lot and let other people take care of me.

6) If you could be a fruit, what would you be and why?

A fig, because I would smell lovely, grown in a hot country and be around for Christmas.

7) What superpower would you love to have?

The power to make everyone peaceful, tolerant and considerate of each other, no matter what their religion, sexuality or beliefs.

8) What is the most annoying interview question you have ever been asked?

I don’t think there has ever been one.

9) Do you consider yourself to be an angel or a devil? 

Devil, I have no patience, I snap at the computer, snap at my husband when he can’t fix things on it. I’m totally intolerant of technology.  I’m an angel in every other way though.

10) What is your dream job, and have you tried to achieve it?

Writing for a living and I have achieved it.

11) Can you describe for me what your perfect day would involve?

A day out with my husband strolling around the villages near where we live and then lunch in a local pub, and home to a bottle of wine and a DVD.

12) Please name a cocktail that would describe you perfectly, and what’s in it?

Pink Lady. Because all my book covers tend to have shades of pink in them.  My blog has a pink background and I love the colour pink.

Main alcohol: Gin

Ingredients: 1.5 oz. Gin, 1 Egg White, 4 dashes Grenadine

Preparation: Shake ingredients very well with ice and strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry.

Standard garnish: Cherry

Drinkware: Cocktail glass

13)If you could only read one author for the rest of your life (and I’m aware that’s a very scary world), who would you choose and why?

Iris Murdoch, because she writes perfectly and also philosophies at the same time.

13) If you could choose anybody famous to star in the story of your life, who would it be?

Michelle Williams

14) Besides reading, which I am guessing is a given, what other hobbies do you have?

Needlecraft and playing the piano, or at least learning to.

15) Who is your ideal Disney character?

Snow White

16) What is your best childhood memory?

My nan giving me a trinket box that I had stared at for weeks on her dressing table.

17) Did you have an invisible friend as a child? If so please tell me about them. 

Yes, his name was Fred and he went everywhere with me even to dancing school. My mum even laid a special place at the table for him at meal times

18) What would your ideal pet be?

Bendy my cat is my ideal pet. When he isn’t demented, of course.

19) What is your guilty pleasure when it comes to music? 

Lady Gaga nice and loud. And James Rhodes playing the piano (heaven)

20) If you could only look at one view for the rest of eternity, what or where would you like to be to see this view?

Cambodia, at Angkor Wat temples.

21) Who is the most important person in the world to you?

My husband Andrew

22) Can you let us in on an embarrassing secret?

My skirt fell down once when running for a bus in Oxford Street. I was left standing in my knickers and blouse

23) If you won the lottery, how would you spend the money?

I would give a lot to the children in Cambodia and other charities close to my heart. To my step children and family. I would then buy a farmhouse in Oxfordshire and invest the rest.

24) What are you most scared of?

Spiders and heights.

Thank you so much Lynda for taking part. I also love the colour pink, so think a pink lady could work for me too (shame I'm not a fan of Gin though!)

I hope you have enjoyed this edition of Truth or Lie? I will be back next week with another episode, and in the mean time...

Don't forget to guess the lies, to be in with a chance of a prize! 

Amazon UK

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Web page 

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Please do pop back tomorrow to see my review of Perfect Weddings. 

Book Review - Coconuts and Wonderbras by Lynda Renham - Rachel Reads Randomly Book #20

Amazon UK

Title: Coconuts and Wonderbras

Author: Lynda Renham

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Purchased

Publisher: Raucous Publishing

Publication Date: 20th December 2013

Rating: 4 Stars

Literary agent Libby Holmes is desperate for her boyfriend, Toby, to propose to her and will do anything for him and if that means dieting for England over Christmas then she ll have a go. However, when Libby's boss introduces her to her new client, Alex Bryant, her life is turned upside down. Alex Bryant, ex-SAS officer and British hero, insists Libby accompany him abroad for a book fair. Libby finds herself in the middle of an uprising with only Alex Bryant to protect her, that is, until Toby flies out to win back her affections. Come with Libby on her romantic comedy adventure to see if love blossoms in the warm Cambodian sunshine or if, in the heat of the day, emotions get just too hot to handle. 

I literally haven't got the faintest idea of what I think of this book. I have gone from hating it in places, to being completely absorbed, to finding it exciting and unputdownable at points. In some places its incredibly funny, and others it has a real political feel to it, that for someone with a lack of interest in foreign politics, found very confusing. There is no denying that it has been very well written, it definitely flows and in some places there are some laugh out loud jokes, and for that reason alone it deserves the four stars I'm giving it. 

Libby Holmes takes some getting used to, in the first bit she is uttering every thought she has, and I was getting a bid fed up with her ranting about food, calories, dieting etc... and then there is a scene that involves a bit to much information about the movement of a female hygiene product (which may make men want to put the book down completely) and once Libby and Alex are on a flight to Cambodia I started to get into the swing of things. 

Libby's first meeting with Alex is amusing and her tell it like it is persona, leads to her calling him some choice names, before learning that she will be his new agent and expected to work alongside him with his new book launch. 

Libby though already has a boyfriend Toby, who she suspects is cheating, and she seems gutless to deal with the Toby situation at all. I despised and hated Toby, who is an ignorant homophobe, and later in the book just showed what a despicable, spineless toad of a man he is. The complete opposite in fact to Alex.

Alex's fiancee Penny is a prima donna who even in time of crisis is more interested in her public persona, appearance, and if the press are interested than anyone's safety. I really didn't like her either. 

Cambodia, during a time of political unrest is certainly a different location for a book, but unfortunately this isn't the sort of story where sight seeing or getting a feel for the tourist side of the country was a focus. Instead you are thrown into potentially life threatening situations for Libby and Alex, and they need to learn to trust each other fast. 

The adventure elements of the book definitely held my interest and were really enjoyable to read, as was the general sense of humor in the story.  Even Libby's personality which grated on me at the start became more enjoyable as I got to know her, and her reactions to certain situations. I just wanted to shake her for how she let Toby treat her, and her incapability to stand up for herself. 

As for the title, let's just say there are some imaginative uses for a wonderbra in the book, and hearing Alex tell Libby to take of her bra, while she's on the phone to someone else are moments I'll definitely remember. 

Definitely think this is the sort of book that you possibly shouldn't take anyone's word for, and just try it and see for yourself, as there are so many elements to it, you will probably have a very different reading experience to me. 

Thank you to everyone who voted for Coconuts and Wonderbras, it was an inspired choice and I'm really glad I have now read it. Please do take a look at this week's vote and have your say again. I love reading all the comments and seeing what will win.

Book Review - A Christmas Romance by Lynda Renham

Amazon UK

Title: A Christmas Romance

Author: Lynda Renham writing as Amy Perfect

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Review copy from author

Publisher: Raucous Publishing

Publication Date: 11th November 2015

Rating: 5 Stars

Romance is the last thing on Frankie Bell’s mind as she gets ready for Christmas in the English village of Little Perran. It’s going to be a quiet affair once the annual Great Little Perran Christmas Bake Off cake competition is over, with Frankie, and her little dog Buster, tucked up warmly in Primrose Cottage. Fate, however, has other plans and Little Perran is thrown into turmoil when the film star, Roux Lockhart, comes to stay. 

The spirit of the season weaves its magic and a freak snow storm that blows in a surprise visitor. Frankie discovers love from an unexpected quarter, but can she trust it? And is someone cheating with their Christmas cake? 

A delightful Christmas love story to be enjoyed with a mug of hot chocolate and a roaring log fire. 

I always love discovering a new author, and although I have a growing collection of Lynda Renhams books on my kindle, I hadn't quite got around to reading them, until A Christmas Romance came along. As I have been mainly reading Christmas books lately, I couldn't resist finally breaking my duck on Lynda's writing, and it couldn't have come a moment too soon. 

I am thrilled to say that I loved every second of this book, and was so hooked on the drama that was unfurling that I had absolutely no idea where I was for most of my commute home! Which is to me, always the sign of a great book.

The village of Little Perran had been expecting a quiet Christmas, outside of their Christmas fete and ball, there wasn't much excitement expected. Until that is, Roux Lockhart international film star comes to stay in the village, in a rented cottage while filming nearby. 

From the moment Roux makes his first appearance, there seems to be drama, fun and romance sweeping the village. It becomes very eventful, and Frankie Bell is drawn into the centre of it all too. 

Everything soon starts to heat up when Frankie and Roux both go missing from the village in a blizzard. The drama surrounding this was brilliant, you were getting chapters both from Frankie's focus, but also of the village and I loved seeing the two sides to this incident. 

Little Perran was a picturesque place, and all the villagers had great personalities. There is Frankie's best friend Birdie who is just trying to help Frankie, Stella who appears to be the village flirt, the pub owners, and Cheryl's domination of the Christmas cake competition. 

A Christmas Romance brings together all the elements you want from a Christmas story (apart from magic) with a warmth and humour that was a delight to read. If you are wanting an eventful, energetic Christmas story, with a lovely romance too, then A Christmas Romance is the book for you this Christmas. 

Thank you so much to Lynda Renham for this review copy. This is my honest opinion.