Book Review - The Fall and Rise of Sadie McQueen by Juliet Ashton - #HolidayReading Mexico

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Amazon UK

Title: The Fall and Rise of Sadie McQueen

Author: Juliet Ashton

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: 26th December 2019

Rating: 5 Stars

It doesn't look like much from the outside, but Cherry Blossom Mews is a miraculous place. It's somewhere that finds you, rather than the other way around.

Sadie McQueen has leased a double fronted space in this small cul de sac in a culturally diverse corner of central London. The cobbles muffle the noise of double-deckers roaring past the arched gates. Turn right and you are in a futuristic maze of corporate glass monoliths. Turn left and you see a wide street with many different houses. Towering above the mews are the degenerating tower blocks of an infamous estate. The old folks home and the nearby school are both in need of TLC; the private members' club that set up shop in a listed Georgian building has been discreetly refurbished at huge expense.

Into this confusion comes Sadie. She fell in love with the street the moment she first twisted her ankle on its cobbles. Her double-fronted unit is now a spa. She has sunk all her money into the lease and refurbishment. She's sunk all her hope into the carefully designed treatment rooms, the calm white reception space, the bijou flat carved out of the floor above.

Sadie has a mission to connect. To heal herself from tragedy. Sadie has wrapped the mews around her like a warm blanket, after unimaginable loss and unimaginable guilt. Her hard-won peace is threatened, not only by the prospect of the mews going under but by a man aptly named Hero who wakes up her comatose heart. 
Sadie has a lot to give, and a lot to learn, not least that some ghosts aren't ghosts at all.

What a book this is as it takes you on a journey of ups and downs in the life of Sadie McQueen. 

And also the rest of the residents of The Cherry Blossom Mews,  The book is written so that each chapter features their next weekly residents meeting which they take turns to hold, and allows us to really get to know all the residents of the Mews in a great way.

Sadie is the main character and she has a tragic backstory and its trying to overcome certain things in her life. There are elements of what happens involving her in the book that had me gasping out loud. 

There are so many threads of story-line and I really enjoyed all of them.  All the characters have distinct personalities, and I loved getting to know them all. 

This is a sensitively written, at times emotional, and generally heartwarming story. Although I'd expect nothing less from this always enjoyable author.

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

Book Review - The Sunday Lunch Club by Juliet Ashton

Amazon UK

Title: The Sunday Lunch Club

Author: Juliet Ashton

Format reviewed: Paperback

Source: Publisher goody bag

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: 19th April 2018

Rating: 5 Stars

The first rule of Sunday Lunch Club is … don't make any afternoon plans.

Every few Sundays, Anna and her extended family and friends get together for lunch. They talk, they laugh, they bicker, they eat too much. Sometimes the important stuff is left unsaid, other times it's said in the wrong way. 

Sitting between her ex-husband and her new lover, Anna is coming to terms with an unexpected pregnancy at the age of forty. Also at the table are her ageing grandmother, her promiscuous sister, her flamboyantly gay brother and a memory too terrible to contemplate.

Until, that is, a letter arrives from the person Anna scarred all those years ago. Can Anna reconcile her painful past with her uncertain future?

Juliet Ashton weaves a story of love, friendship and community that will move you to laughter and to tears. Think Cold Feet meets David Nicholls, with a dash of the joy of Jill Mansell added for good measure.

How novel, a whole novel told in a series of Sunday lunches, I loved it.  For the Sunday Lunch club is more than just eating, its about family and friends of the family, getting together on semi-regular basis to exchange news and give each other support. 

The main focus of the book is Anna Piper and its the Piper family we really get to know, with her grandmother Dinkie,  and siblings Neil, Maeve and Josh, plus her ex husband Sam.  

Through the story we have all manner of life issues touched on, some of them very contemporary, others a bit more worrying, plus hidden secrets for all of the family members are hiding certain things from their loved ones, not necessarily huge things, but secrets nonetheless. 

I loved getting to know each and everyone of the characters and by the end of the book I felt like an honorary member of the Piper family. 

I loved how each chapter started with whose house the Sunday Lunch club was meeting in, and then the menu for the week. There were huge differences in the food each person would serve and all of the feasts matched their makers personalities really well. 

This is a loving, warm hearted book that is a pleasure to read. I can't find any fault with it, and whenever I wasn't reading it, I was wishing I had more time on my hands so I could go back between the pages and finding out what would happen next.  This is another gem from Juliet Ashton that comes highly recommended from me. 

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

Book Review - The Woman at Number 24 by Juliet Ashton

Amazon UK

Title: The Woman at Number 24

Author: Juliet Ashton

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Simon & Schuster 

Publication Date: 20th April 2017

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Meet the residents of number 24 in the warm, witty and wonderful new novel from bestselling author Juliet Ashton.

When your marriage falls apart, the last place you'd want your husband to move to is downstairs. Unfortunately for Sarah, up in the eaves at number 24, her ex-husband now lives one floor beneath her with his new wife. Their happiness floats up through the floorboards, taunting her.

A child psychologist, Sarah has picked up great sadness from the little girl, Una, who lives with her careworn mother three floors below, but is Sarah emotionally equipped to reach out?

The Spring brings a new couple to the house. Jane and Tom's zest for life revives the flagging spirits, and Sarah can't deny the instant attraction to handsome Tom. Having seen at first hand what infidelity does to people, she'll never act on it ... but the air fizzes with potential.

The sunshine doesn't reach every corner of number 24, however. Elderly Mavis, tucked away in the basement, has kept the world at bay for decades. She's about to find out that she can't hide forever.

In Notting Hill, there is a rather special property, its not obvious from the outside, put for the people at number 24 it is home. And over the course of The Woman at Number 24, you will get to know all the residents in this house, see how they all interact, and perhaps even become more than just causal acquaintances. 

Meets the characters of number 24. 

At the top of the building is Sarah, she is trying to recover from discovering her husband having an affair, their divorce, and then a couple of weeks after the ink is dry on the decree, the wedding of him to the mistress. 

Oh and this ex-es name is Leo and he lives downstairs in the next flat down,  with his new wife, however there are times where you have to wonder about his and Sarah's interactions, given Leo doesn't come across as a particularly faithful man! 

Then there are the Boyces, Jane and Tom who have moved into their new flat, after Lewis (Sarah's former best friend) had moved out. Sarah is attracted to Tom but knows she can't act on it, and makes a firm new friend in Jane. 

Then there is Lisa and daughter Una. Una is currently going through a period of selective mutism, but whether Sarah, a child psychologist, but suffering with confidence crisis at work, will offer to help out Una, is an initial question. 

Finally the last main resident, and important character is Mavis, who lives in the basement flat. She is an older woman, who seems to be in a permanently bad mood, and seems to complain about everything. However she is also one of the most interesting characters, and as the story progressed I loved seeing her fledgling friendship with Sarah emerge. 

Oh and there are two rather cool pets in this property, Peck a foul mouthed Parrot who is quite amusing and Mikey who if you are anything like me will fall for on the first meeting. 

The focus of the book is on Sarah, and its her life we are following, as she renovates her flat and prepares to move out in a few months time, as living about her ex isn't the best plan. Nothing it seems in her life is that simple, and there are so many moments I loved, not least her reaction to a piece of information that the hints were there for, relating to Tom and Jane. 

I was loving the book as I was reading it, and finding myself frustrated that while reading in my lunch breaks that I couldn't just sit back and continue, instead of working for the rest of the day. My thoughts for two afternoons were definitely with Sarah and her friends, especially after some twists I wasn't expecting, which added a whole new dimension to the book. 

The Woman at Number 24 is a thoroughly enjoyable story of friendships and of building a community within a building.

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

Book Review - These Days of Ours by Juliet Ashton

Amazon UK

Title: These Days of Ours

Author: Juliet Ashton

Format reviewed: Paperback

Source: Publisher supplied ARC

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

Publication Date: 1st March 2016

Rating: 5 Stars

Kate and Becca are cousins and best friends. They have grown up together and shared all the most important milestones in their lives: childhood birthday parties, eighteenth birthdays, and now a wedding day as they each marry their childhood sweethearts, Charlie and Julian.

Kate has always loved Charlie - they were meant to be. Then she discovers that life never turns out quite how you expect it to. And love doesn't always follow the journey it should.

But best friends are forever, and true love will find a way, won't it…?

What a magnificent story of friendship, relationships and long lasting love.  With each chapter being preceded by an invitation to a specific life event, be it 5th birthday party, wedding party, hen night etc... this is the tale of Kate and Becca, from when they were young right up until now. 

They are cousins and the best of friends, and share everything, even it turns out partners. Their initial childhood sweethearts feature heavily in the book, as does their family. 

These Days of Ours proves that blood is thicker than water, and that despite what is going on in each others lives, Kate and Becca are almost always there for each other. That is not to say they haven't had ups and downs, but they do have each others best interests at heart. 

Kate nursing her father, brings them closer together, and gets Kate really inspired to help the orphanage in China that her father has always raised funds. This is a rather profound time for Kate, and one that ultimately changes her life. 

I loved the passing of time with each chapter, and thanks to the year being handily on each invitation, you always knew how far further forward you were with their story, and you would get told anything key that happened in the time that isn't featured in a chapter. 

With fabulous writing, great storytelling, and clearly a close friendship, and of course a story of true love, These Days of Ours is a fantastic novel, and one that I really enjoyed reading. Towards the last quarter or so, I was so involved with the story, I couldn't put it down at all. 

Thank you to SJV at Simon & Schuster for this review copy. This was my honest opinion.