Book Review - Jungle Rock by Caroline James

Amazon UK

Title: Jungle Rock

Author: Caroline James

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Author supplied review copy

Publisher: Ramjam Publishing Company

Publication Date: 21st November 2016

Rating: 5 Stars

Handsome young chef Zach Docherty is feeling the heat. Following an exposé in a national newspaper, his fiancée Poppy Dunlop has broken their engagement. Heartbroken at the thought of life without Poppy, Zach drowns his sorrows and, when his agent suggests that Zach becomes a contestant in a reality TV show, Jungle Survival, he reluctantly agrees. Plunged deep in the jungle, into a bizarre mix of talent and trials, Zach meets glamour model Cleo Petra, and the cameras go crazy. 

Will Zach survive and be crowned Jungle King? Or will his latest exploits push Poppy further away...

First let me take a moment to comment on the beautiful colour palette of this cover, it screams rainforest and warmth to me, which is perfect on a cold winter's day such as today. 

And the story definitely brings a warmth into my life, as it involved the jungle in Australia, where celebrity chef Zach is taking part in reality TV show Jungle Survival. It is obviously a fictional version of I'm A Celebrity, but I much prefer this version. Thankfully none of the really gruesome trials are talked about in any detail, more mentioned in passing. 

Zach's stint in the jungle has repercussions on various people close to him. We find out how Poppy is coping with her latest job, while having an eye on her ex-fiancee. Then there is Zach's manager Bob who is enjoying himself in the friends and family area in Australia. We also get to see what is going on in Jo and Hattie's lives. 

If you have read other books by Caroline James, some of the characters will be recognisable to you such as Jo and Hattie, but this definitely works as a standalone novella. 

As everyone around Zach gets sucked in by Jungle fever, I loved seeing just how Zach was doing in Australia, and he had some great tactics. 

Jungle Rock is an entertaining short novella, that is a highly enjoyable story, set over a couple of weeks, in a reasonable fast pace, and feels like another really good book from Caroline James. Easy to read, perfect to while away an hour, especially if you are a fan of I'm a Celeb. Even if you aren't like me, I still got a lot from the story, as it has quite a few different strands, and I was really hoping that Zach would do well. 

Thank you to Caroline James for my copy of the book which I read and reviewed voluntarily and honestly. 

Book Review - The Girl I Was Before by Izzy Bayliss - Rachel Reads Randomly Book #47

Amazon UK

Title:  The Girl I Was Before

Author: Izzy Bayliss

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Purchased

Publisher: 21st August 2016

Publication Date: Blue Gate Publishing

Rating: 3.5 Stars

When Lily McDermott walks in to find Marc, her husband of just three months in bed with actress Nadia, life as she knows it is over. Lily thinks things can't get any worse when she sees photos of her husband and his new lover splashed across the glossy magazine pages, but when she loses her job too, she is at her lowest ebb and turns to baking to soothe her soul. Wounded and broken she has to try and pick herself up again with the help of her best friend Frankie and with her encouragement, Lily decides to turn her hobby into a business and sets up Baked With Love. However whatever Lily does, it seems disaster soon ensues and when handsome stranger Sam comes to her rescue, Lily isn't quite ready to turn her back on her marriage. 

Can Lily risk opening her heart again or is she destined to allow Marc to shadow her life forever? 

I really liked The Girl I Was Before, it is reasonably light hearted, features some good cakes, and Lily's sister was hilarious, even though she clearly wasn't trying to be. 

However Lily herself drove me slightly mad during the story, she spent half the book wanting her husband of 3 months back, after he walked out, being caught with his pants down, and then the other half she finally is moving on with her life, but walks straight into a relationship with another man, who she isn't entirely honest with. 

Her initial job before she lost it, was one I have never thought about in my life before, and certainly never seen used in fiction before, she works as a call centre operative for  pregnancy tests, and also has to deal with the returns of used ones - queue some interesting descriptions of smells! 

I also really liked her new business as it involved baking celebration cakes, and it was from that she met a handsome stranger, as well as had some comic moments with her nephews. Some of the cakes sounded divine. 

Lily's sister Clara as I have said was quite funny, in a I can't believe she keeps saying it way, if I didn't laugh at her I would end up far too annoyed with her attitude towards Lily, and the rest of her family. She does have Lily's best interests at heart but I found her hard to like but loved her kids. 

The Girl I Was Before is easy to read, and I liked the writing style, even if I wasn't too keen on all aspects of the characters (I haven't even mentioned what a nasty piece of work Lily's husband is!), and I would definitely be tempted to read more books by Izzy Bayliss. 

Thanks to everyone that voted last week. It was a tie between this and Home For Christmas by Cally Taylor. It was a tough decision but I went for this purely as Amazon reckons it will be the first in a series, so at least I'm organised when the next one is out!

Rachel Reads Randomly - is now on hiatus until the start of January, as I just don't have time to run this feature until then. Hope you will all join me on 2nd January for a new vote! 

Book Review - The Oddest Little Gingerbread Shop by Beth Good

Amazon UK

Title: The Oddest Little Gingerbread Shop

Author: Beth Good

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Gift

Publisher: Thimblerig Books

Publication Date: 28th October 2016

Rating: 5 Stars

Busy professionals Sophie and Mark don't know each other, and don't have time for a relationship anyway. But their lives are about to collide in the most delicious way possible, as they hurry to a conference on a snowy December evening. Oops, watch out for that reindeer!

Another cosy and highly festive quick-read romcom from popular writer, Beth Good. Pop the kettle on, grab yourself a gingerbread man, and start reading ...

A Quick Read Romance.

I never know what to realistically expect from short stories, but this one really hit all the right spots for me. It had a clear story, two characters getting to know each other, a time line progression, and far more importantly in a Christmas short story, just enough magic to have you puzzled. 

I really think you need to suspend your knowledge of reality as your read this short story, or at least any cynicism, as I really do think Christmas is a magical time, and there was something incredibly odd and inexplicable about the Gingerbread Shop itself. 

Within the first couple of pages, I was laughing and smiling, and then I wondered if perhaps I was wrong about the genre as Mark and Sophie were walking through a deep dark scary wood, but once they arrived at the shop, I was able to sit back, relax and wonder. 

I'll leave you to make up your own mind as to exactly what happens in the Gingerbread shop, but I was enchanted by it, and it really was an odd little shop. 

In a story that has reindeer, delicious baked goods, a couple of people thrown together in unusual circumstance, and the cosiness and enchanting qualities of the season, you have a marvellous festive short story that will let you while away an hour in pure bliss. 

Book Review - Her Christmas Cowboy by Katherine Garbera

Amazon UK

Title: Her Christmas Cowboy

Author: Katherine Garbera

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Tule Publishing

Publication Date: 31st October 2016

Rating: 3.5 Stars

There's no place like Marietta, Montana for the holidays, and retired Marine Lane Scott has finally, reluctantly, returned home...

...only to run into a sweet and sexy woman from his past, Felicity Danvers, who is running away from her Christmas loving momma.

Lane can’t resist playing the hero and sweeping Felicity out of town. He vows he’ll do everything he can to make this holiday special for her. And as Christmas approaches, they discover that their love can conquer and overcome any obstacle—but can they both trust that it’s not just Christmas magic bringing them together?

I really loved Lane Scott, he is a retired marine, who is adjusting back to life as a double amputee. He won't let his disability get him down but since the injuries, he hasn't really had much to do with women, and that all changes the day that Felicity Danvers runs into him in town. 

They knew each other at school, but never dated, but suddenly they are aware of some chemistry between the,  as they try to decipher their feelings for each other. 

I found Lane really easy to get to know and he is a classy cowboy who knows how to treat a lady right. However I just couldn't get to grips with Felicity as easily, there seemed to be things hinted at but not really explored in depth which is a shame, as this was a romance you had to pretty much believe in at face value only. 

Her Christmas Cowboy is the fifth book in the Scott brothers series, but I don't feel I was missing out having not read the others, so this can be read as a standalone. I did like what I heard about the other brothers though, as well as Lane's nephews. 

Short and sweet romance between a cowboy and a teacher, that is a good escape for a couple of hours from your regular routine. 

Thank you to Tule Publishing and Netgalley for this copy of the book. This was my honest opinion. 

Book Review - Rules by Jenny Colgan - Back Catalogue Books

Back Catalogue Books is my new regular Saturday feature, focusing on books that are not the latest releases. There is going to be a mix of Q&As and also reviews, depending on what I have the space for. 

If you are an author wanting to take part in Back Catalogue Books then please do email on gilbster at gmail dot com and I'll whizz the questions over to you. 

I hope everyone enjoys this weekly look back at some of the slightly older books that are about but still great, and that I eventually make a dent in my TBRs as a result of it! 

After reading Class and reviewing it for last week, I spend a day considering if I was going to read Rules so soon, wrecked my enjoyment of a perfectly good book deliberating over it, and of course then succumbed to Rules! 

Amazon UK

Title: Rules: Things are Changing at the Little School by the Sea

Author: Jenny Colgan

Format reviewed: Paperback

Source: Purchased

Publisher: Sphere

Publication Date: 11th August 2016

Rating: 5 Stars

For the first time, the girls caught sight of the turreted, castle-like building that would be home for the next nine months, the four towers of the main houses nestled in the hills, with the cliffs behind, leading down to the still turquoise sea. 

Maggie loves teaching English at beautiful Downey House but she is less keen on planning her wedding to dependable Stan. Instead, she's working on ignoring her crush on David McDonald, who teaches English at the local boys' school.

Just as Simone and Fliss have become friends, Zelda arrives to upset everything. Zelda is loudly, glamorously American, and she's full of ways to improve life at boring school. Soon, quiet, mousy Simone is undergoing a makeover. And Fliss is about to jeopardise everything to impress a boy.

In a new year at school, the girls of Downey House will be breaking all the rules - and not all of them will escape unscathed.

Well if I thought Class was brilliant, the Rules is even better, but I may be running out of superlatives for this series by book 6 once it gets written and released! Rules takes the foundation of what we have learnt about the main cast of characters and developed it a lot further, so it was even easier to get into, and offered different things to the first year.

Now into their second year at Downey House, there are all sorts of things going on, boys are starting a feature a bit more, and some boy drama is at the heart of quite a lot of what happens in Fliss, Alice & Simone's friendship along with new girl brash American Zelda. 

Zelda is convinced she will be changing schools yet again sooner or later, so that there is no point settling down here. She isn't a trouble maker per se, more of someone with a lot of confidence, and likes things her way, and she does give Simone a makeover. 

Maggie, the English teacher, we first come across in this book, in a rather embarrassing situation, the first of a few for her, as her head and heart are continued to be pulled by both her now fiancee Stan, and David the English teacher at he boys school.  

Veronica the headmistress, has all sorts of decisions to make, partly about her secret from book one, if it will become common knowledge or not, and also on various disciplinary charges, as the four young girls get up to various things. 

There is even a more serious theme running through this book, an issue that occurs in schools everywhere, unfortunately, which from the girls point of view and the teachers seemed to be handled incredibly well, and the writing was sensitive and sensible, in contrast to the very light hearted tone of most of the book. 

The writing jumps from chapter segment to chapter segment, with different characters being the focus of attention, which is why having the cast list in the front of the book is really handy at first, if you are new to the series. Once you get used to the writing style, it is a very easy to read book, that I almost completely finished just on my daily commute. 

I also love the level of the additional extras in the book, some of Maggie's poems she teaches or references in there entirety, there are also the instructions on some of the dances the girls learn in the book . 

I am loving this series of books so much, and I am gutted that I don't have any more to read on account of them not existing yet. Rules has been another chance for me to relive my childhood love of boarding school stories, but with more contemporary issues and bringing these sorts of stories into the 21st century. 

Back Catalogue Books with Fiona Harper

Back Catalogue Books is my new regular Saturday feature, focusing on books that are not the latest releases. There is going to be a mix of Q&As and also reviews, depending on what I have the space for. 

If you are an author wanting to take part in Back Catalogue Books then please do email on gilbster at gmail dot com and I'll whizz the questions over to you. 

I hope everyone enjoys this weekly look back at some of the slightly older books that are about but still great, and that I eventually make a dent in my TBRs as a result of it!

I had the pleasure of meeting today's guest at a blogger/author meet up a couple of months ago, and realised instantly she would be perfect for this feature. So without further ado, lets meet....

I'm Fiona Harper and I've been an author for more than ten years now. In that time I've written twenty-five books and they've been published all over the world. I started by writing short romances for Mills & Boon, but now I'm writing commercial women's fiction for HQ.I write funny, touching stories with a healthy dollop of romance!

Please tell me about your first book, and what started you writing in the first place

My first book started with a blind date between a rich girl with a badly-behaved rock star dad and a boy from a council estate who'd determined he was going to make a success of himself. Not your traditional Mills & Boon story! However, they offered me a contract and it was published in December 2006.

How many books have you written and what are they?

I've written 25 books (I can list them all if you want, but there's a lot!)

Commercial Women's Fiction:
• The Other Us
• The Summer We Danced
• The Doris Day Vintage Film Club
• The Little Shop of Hopes and Dreams
• Make My Wish Come True
• Kiss Me Under The Mistletoe

Series romance:
• Taming Her Italian Boss
• The Rebound Guy
• The Guy To Be Seen With
• Snowbound in the Earl's Castle
• Always the Best Man
• Swept Off Her Stilettos
• Three Weddings and a Baby
• Dancing with Danger
• The Bridesmaid's Secret
• Housekeeper's Happy-Ever-After
• Invitation to the Boss's Ball
• Blind-Date Baby
• Christmas Wishes, Mistletoe Kisses
• Saying Yes to the Millionaire
• English Lord, Ordinary Lady
• Break Up to Make Up
• Her Parenthood Assignment
• Blind-Date Marriage
Novellas:
• New Beginnings at the Chatsfield

Which book are you most proud of writing?

Ooh, that's really hard to answer! I think it's my current book, because it was an idea I had more than ten years ago, and for the first time it's not a boy-meets-girl story. I'm excited that I finally managed to do something different and put a story with a Big Idea at the centre of it onto paper.

Which book was your favourite to write?

I think it might have been Swept Off Her Stilettos. My heroine was a vintage-fashion wearing sex kitten who liked red lipstick and wrapping men around her little finger. It was fun to write a character who did and said things I would never dare to!

Who are your favourite characters from your books and why?

As a pair I would say Damian and Zoe from Always The Best Man, because they were just so explosively different to each other! However, I have a great fondness for Pippa from The Summer We Danced too.

If you could go back and change anything from any of your books, what would it be, and why?
I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so there are many things I'd change in every book, things I realise later that I could have done better. However, at some point you just have to let the book go. There's one glaring continuity error in The Summer We Danced I would like to fix: I rewrote the scene so many times and changes a load of the little details and neither my editor, the copy editor or I caught the fact my heroine was using a computer when the electricity had been cut off!

Which of your covers if your favourite and why?

I think Kiss Me Under The Mistletoe has to have been my favourite cover because it was the first time I didn't have a cover that was a stock photo and I was so chuffed a cover designer had used the details from my book for the jacket.

Have you ever thought about changing genres, if so what else would you like to write?

Funny you should ask that, because I do feel as if I've switched gears with my current book - The Other Us. It's not a total departure, but it's more women's fiction than romantic comedy. I love mysteries and thrillers, though, and I'd love to write one if I got a really gripping idea to start it off.

Looking forward can you let us know what you are working on next?

I'm just revising The Other Us at the moment, so it's almost finished but not quite! It's a story about a dissatisfied housewife who wishes her life had taken a different path, that she'd chosen 'the one that got away' rather than the man she married. And then one day she wakes up and she's twenty-one again and the day when both men are going to ask her to be theirs is looming. Will she choose differently this time? And if she does, will the grass be any greener on the other side of the fence? The story then follows her as she flips between two possible realities where both choices play out. I kind of think of it as a romantic Sliding Doors meets Quantum Leap!

I dare not ask for a favourite author, but is there any author’s back catalogue you admire and why?

I love Julie Cohen's books! And Kelly Hunter's and Liz Fielding's. Mind you, I wouldn't mind Paula Hawkins' back catalogue (The Girl on the Train) because if one of my books got made into a film and Emily Blunt played the lead, I could die happy!

Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about your back catalogue of books?

Nothing, except I am fond of them all! Ebooks were in their infancy when I first got published and I'm really glad digital books have taken off in the last decade, because it means none of them have been lost or forgotten.

Thank you, Rachel, for asking me to come along and share! It's been a blast. :-)

You are very welcome Fiona. I have really enjoyed your books and The Other Us sounds really good too, will definitely keep my eyes open for its release.

Bio

As a child, Fiona was constantly teased for two things: having her nose in a book and living in a dream world. Things haven’t changed much since then, but at least she’s found a career that puts her runaway imagination to use! She loves reading, cooking and her new hobby is tap dancing – Ginger Rogers watch out!

Fiona has twenty-five books under her belt and they've been published in over twenty different languages around the world. She started career writing heartfelt but humorous romances for Mills & Boon, but now writes romantic comedies and feel-good women’s fiction for HQ.

Social Media links:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/FionaHarperBooks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FiHarper_Author
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fionaharperauthor/?hl=en

Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/fiharperauthor/

Guest Post - TV Chefs by Kristen Bailey

When I was growing up, there was one chef on the television and her name was Delia.  She rocked a red twinset, a pearl necklace and she liked to cook out of her conservatory in calm, reassuring tones.  Her show was the highlight of my mum’s week.  These were the days when there was no internet or Sky Plus so we’d record her show and Mum would sit there with a notepad and pen scribbling down her recipe for a Victoria Sandwich, getting us to sit there with our fingers on the rewind button in case she couldn’t scribble quick enough.  The only competitive cooking show I watched at the time was Ready Steady Cook where professional chefs went against each other to cook ingredients out of a mystery bag.  I remember it was the show that was the perfect distraction from GCSE revision, and the reason I don’t really get physics but can tell you how to make a three course meal out of twelve eggs, a red pepper, a chicken breast and a block of mild cheddar.

I’m not entirely sure when the face of TV cooking changed.  We’d always had the likes of Delia and Keith Floyd around and Ready Steady Cook had introduced chefs like James Martin and Ainsley Harriott to our screens, but the landscape changed when one Mr Jamie Oliver appeared. Suddenly, cooking was what young and trendy twentysomethings did in their loft apartments, the camera jumping around the room periodically to the soundtrack of nineties Britpop.  Soon, lots of other TV chefs appeared by his side: Nigella and her glamour cooking, Heston and his test tubes, and Gordon and his sweary shouting.  Cooking shows were no longer relaxing and satisfying to watch.  They’d be people telling us what to do, what to eat and demanding that we stock our larders with pomegranates, kale and chipotle.  Suddenly the only way one was allowed to cook was with restaurant-level skill too.  ‘This recipe will take you fifteen minutes!’ the chef will say gleefully.  It takes me that long to chop an onion sometimes.  And mate seriously, that’s a lot of pans to clean – you need to be adding another half an hour onto that, at least.

Competitive cooking shows also became tense, shouty affairs too.  Before Masterchef used to be very elegant with its colour coded kitchens and synth/sax theme tune.  Now Masterchef seems to be on steroids; and there’s a version for every day of the week – one for us normal folk, the celebrities, the professionals.  It’s gone over to Australia (my favourite version I must admit, one of the judges even wears a cravat) and the US where there is far too much high-fiving for my liking.

However, the turning point for me came when chefs started getting preachy with us. They didn’t stay their side of the television any more, they came into our living rooms, had a look at our plates and told us what we were cooking/eating wasn’t good enough.  These shows were now not just an assault on our senses but an assault on our intelligence and freedom to eat what we darn well liked.  

Fed up of all the sudden cultural preoccupation with all things foodie, I therefore, had lots of inspiration to write Souper Mum and its sequel, Second Helpings.  Both novels are the story of Jools Campbell, a stay at home mum who stands up to a pompous TV chef but inadvertently becomes a celebrity herself.  Both feature TV cooking shows of my own creation but also my own arrogant, media monster of a TV chef, Tommy McCoy. He’s married to the odious, fame-seeking Kitty who also has four kids all with foodie names, Basil, Mace, Clementine and Ginger.  He is, of course, an amalgamation of many of the TV chefs gracing our screens– the perfect foil to Jools’ sensible, down-to-earth attitude but also a character we can all love to hate. 

So if, like me, you watch cooking shows with a family bag of Minstrels, scowling at TV chefs in their pastel kitchens as they preach about making their own fish fingers (really?!) then let me introduce you to Souper Mum, Jools Campbell as she takes on the Tommy McCoys of this world in what is essentially Mum vs Food... Where will Jools’adventures lead her in Second Helpings? Will the knives come out? Who will be able to stand the heat?  And who will be left eating their own words?

Thank you so much Kristen for this brilliant look at the history of TV Chefs. I honestly had never thought about the way there have been trends in what the food programmes do throughout the decades, and your books sound incredibly like my sort of thing!


About the Author

Mother-of-four, gin-drinker, binge-watcher, receipt hoarder, hapless dog owner, enthusiastic but terrible cook.  Kristen lives in Fleet, Hampshire in a house overrun by Lego and odd socks.  Her debut novel, Souper Mum was released by Accent Press in June and its sequel, Second Helpings is released on 17th November.  

Author links –
She writes a blog about being a modern mother.  That and more can be found at: www.kristenbaileywrites.com
You can also find her on Twitter/Instagram: @baileyforce6
and Facebook: www.facebook.com/kristenbaileywrites

Souper Mum is the story of Jools Campbell, a stay-at-home mother of four, who becomes an unlikely foodie hero when she stands up to a pompous celebrity chef, Tommy McCoy on a reality show.  Armed with fish fingers and a severely limited cooking repertoire, we watch as she becomes a reluctant celebrity and learns some important life lessons about love, family and the joyless merits of quinoa.

Exactly eighteen months after squaring up to a pompous TV chef, Jools Campbell finds herself back in the fame game as she becomes a judge on a family cooking show.  How will she cope being back in the limelight, juggling being a working mum?  What happens when she finds out her old nemesis, Tommy McCoy is her fellow judge?  The knives are sure to fly as 'Souper Mum' makes her triumphant return.

Buy Links – 

Souper Mum
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Souper-Mum-Kristen-Bailey/dp/1786150689/
Second Helpings
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Second-Helpings-Kristen-Bailey/dp/1786150999/

Book Review & Giveaway - Deck The Halls by Emily Harvale

Amazon UK

Title: Deck The Halls

Author: Emily Harvale

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Author supplied review copy

Publisher: Crescent Gate Publishing

Publication Date: 11th November 2016

Rating: 5 Stars

Will Harriet’s Christmas sparkle?

Harri (Harriet) Hall thinks Christmas will be perfect in her ancestral home, The Hall, with roaring log fires, scented pine trees, sparkling decorations, and mouth-watering, festive feasts. She’s been abroad for the last two years and is excited about introducing her, admittedly quirky, family, and The Hall, to her boyfriend, Art (Arthur) and his family, the Camlan-Browns.

She soon finds things have changed. The family funds are dwindling fast and The Hall looks like a dilapidated pile. But Harri has her savings and it won’t take long to spruce it up. Although letting Lance Knightly do the renovation, may be a big mistake. There’s something about the man, Harri really doesn’t like. She needs to keep an eye on him. 

Snow is gently falling and preparations are going well – until Harri’s stepbrother blows up the cooker; water leaks through the roof and blizzards arrive before the Camlan-Browns. Will Art get through the snow by Christmas Eve, and will Lance finish work on The Hall in time? Harri’s perfectly capable of dealing with a crisis as well as any man, but it seems Christmas may not turn out quite as she expected.

Deck The Halls shows off Emily Harvale's writing in a completely new direction from her previous few books. This one is written in the first person and has one central character's focus, and as a result I felt as though I really got to know Harriet, and through Harriet the rest of her family. 

Harriet has come back from 2 years in Australia to spend Christmas at The Hall, her family home. She is coming a week ahead of her boyfriend who she hopes is on the verge of proposing and will be meeting his family too over the Christmas period for the first time. 

When she arrives back she discovers things have changed in her absence, and the whole Hall needs a overhaul and a lot of titivating to make it look Christmassy, but they don't have a huge budget. Enter Lance who seems to be best friends with most of the family despite Harriet never having heard of him, 

Lance is gorgeous, and has connections with everyone, and seems to be able to get everything needed from a friend or two who have things laying about unwanted, or at the best possible price. However Harri just doesn't know whether she can trust him properly. 

Between them and the rest of Harri's rather large family the start the task of decking the Hall for Christmas, and in doing so, we get to discover all sorts of things, including what Harri is feeling, 

I loved all of her various family members, from Merrion her half sister who drives like a maniac, to the four year old twins, who are responsible for quite a few comic scenes, one including a tray a paint. Then there is Reece another of her half brothers, who is a teenager with a fondness for Chemistry experiments and has a habit of blowing things up. 

Harri is a huge fan of Christmas, and I loved seeing all the family traditions they have at the Hall, including lots of fun and games, not that their guests were as keen. The question running through my head for most of the book was whether Harri's relationship with Art would last through their time apart, given he is the only character I didn't really get a strong feeling for in any direction.

Deck the Halls was easy to read, not too long and flowed very well. If I had to pick any faults it would be that I still had some question marks about Lance after the story finished, but they weren't major, just would have liked to know more about him, but as Harriet barely knows much about him, I understand why as a reader I don't either. 

I've been a long time fan of Emily Harvale's books, and this has to one of my favourites of hers, I really fell for the Hall and also felt very invested in the family too. There was definitely a festive feel to it, as well as a family feel and I just really enjoyed the whole book from start to finish. 

Thank you so much Emily Harvale for this review copy. This was my honest opinion. 

Giveaway to win 1 x signed copies of Deck The Halls (Open Internationally)

Emily Harvale as she often does, has given me a signed copy of Deck The Halls to give away to one lucky winner. 

Giveaway open internationally, all options are voluntary, but please do what they ask, as I will be verifying the winner. Giveaway closes 23:59 23/11/2016. 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 1 x signed copy of Deck The Halls (Open Internationally)

Book Review - A Year and a Day by Isabelle Broom

Amazon UK

Title: A Year and a Day

Author: Isabelle Broom

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Michael Joseph

Publication Date: 17th November 2016

Rating: 5 Stars

Welcome to a city where wishes are everywhere

For Megan, a winter escape to Prague with her friend Ollie is a chance to find some inspiration for her upcoming photography exhibition. But she's determined to keep their friendship from becoming anything more. Because if Megan lets Ollie find out about her past, she risks losing everything - and she won't let that happen again . . .

For Hope, the trip is a surprise treat from Charlie, her new partner. But she's struggling to enjoy the beauty of the city when she knows how angry her daughter is back home. And that it's all her fault . . .

For Sophie, the city has always been a magical place. This time she can't stop counting down the moments until her boyfriend Robin joins her. But in historic Prague you can never escape the past . . .

Three different women.

Three intertwining love stories.

One unforgettable, timeless city.

Simply one of the most captivating stories I have read this year. Isabelle Broom is definitely a master author in the making and is fast becoming a must read instantly authors, especially after having read A Year and a Day. 

The story follows three couples as they spent a week in Prague, a few weeks before Christmas. Let's start with Prague itself, a charismatic and historic backdrop to this unputdownable story. I have been to the city a couple of times at winter, and definitely agree with the mentions of the cold. I also have been to a few of the places mentioned in the story and could recognise them. My overwhelming feeling from the story is that the descriptions and history told of the city, were fabulously accurate, and I had a real sense that I was in the city along side all the characters. 

Prague really is a beautiful city and its true that everything is withing walking distance. There is a story told about someone on the Charles Bridge, which I have a weird feeling I heard while I was in the city myself, so there was a lot that rings true about the book, plus of course the cheap food and drink! 

Megan is looking on her trip to Prague as a way to regain some inspiration as a photographer, as she has an upcoming exhibition to fill. She is in Prague with her best friend Ollie. It is clear they are close and that Ollie wants more, but whether Megan will unlock her heart to him, is another matter .

Hope has recently come out of a marriage and is being treated to the trip to Prague by boyfriend Charlie. She is struggling with how unhappy her daughter is with this situation, and the days in the city, really do open her eyes to life a bit more. 

Sophie is there alone, waiting for her soul mate of a boyfriend to join her in a few days time. She has unlike the others been to the city many times, and knows all the off the beaten track things to do. However there is a lot more to her than is first apparent.

As the narrative switches focus between the three leading ladies, we see the truth in each of their partnerships, and receive great insight as to the various dynamics as work, in addition to seeing Prague through a series of different viewpoints. 

Some of the characters were harder to gel with than others, but overall I really liked all of them. The book had me hooked from around half way, and the writing felt quite mature, and was a joy to read. 

I'm not really sure how to express coherently how much I loved reading A Year and  a Day but can assure anyone who is a bit undecided that its a fantastic story, and it does plenty to hold your attention and even give you a couple of jaw dropping moments. 

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Michael Joseph for my copy of this book. This is my honest opinion. 

Guest Post - Christmas as a Writer by Bella Osborne - Blog Tour

Hi Rachel’s Random Reads, Thank you for having me on your blog today.

My immediate response to the question ‘What’s Christmas like as a writer?’ was it’s the same as everyone else’s Christmas but now I’ve had a little think I’m maybe not so sure.

You see us writer types are a little bit ________ – feel free to insert any of the following words here:

Odd
Different
Arty farty
Unpredictable
Distracted by the voices in our heads

Literally every day throughout the year I jot down ideas. It may be something someone says or something I see or simply an idea that pops up out of nowhere. Whatever it is I have to write it down straight away so that it is captured for future use and not lost in the spaghetti tangle that is my frontal lobe. Christmas is no different. My husband recently picked up what he believed were Christmas gift lists that made total sense to start with…

Aunt Doris – Gardening gloves
Malcolm & Penny – Cocktail Shaker
Jack – Star Wars anything and chocolate

To then find it turns it bit odd halfway down…
Dog is an evil mastermind
Donkey burgers
Cat that looks like Hitler

All items on the second list are completely true that I have jotted down and make total sense to me!

I also try to take a break from the writing at Christmas so that I concentrate on having festive fun with my family but I don’t think my writerly brain really gets this concept. You see we never really stop being writers. I can happily walk away from the day job and switch off for two weeks and it won’t cross my mind but writing just isn’t like that. The writer’s brain keeps thinking like a writer. Ideas keep being generated, characters keep popping up in my mind’s eye and acting out scenes, the story continues even if I’m not writing it down.

So, you see, Christmas is no different. I will still have my slightly odd thoughts at unplanned times and will need to write them down on the nearest thing available. Let’s just hope that’s not someone’s Christmas card!

Have a very Merry Christmas!

Thanks so much Bella for visiting Rachel's Random Reads, always a pleasure to have you, and I really hope you can enjoy Christmas even with all the ideas whirring around! 

Part two of a cosy and heartwarming seasonal romance, perfect for fans of Trisha Ashley.

Beth is running away. With her young son Leo to protect, Willow Cottage is the lifeline she so desperately needs. Overlooking the village green in a beautiful Cotswolds idyll, Beth sees a safe place for little Leo.

When she finally uncovers the cottage from underneath the boughs of a weeping willow tree, Beth realises this is far more of a project than she bargained for and the locals are more than a little eccentric! A chance encounter with gruff Jack, who appears to be the only male in the village under thirty, leaves the two of them at odds but it’s not long before Beth realises that Jack has hidden talents that could help her repair more than just Willow Cottage.

Over the course of four seasons, Beth realises that broken hearts can be mended, and sometimes love can be right under your nose…

Willow Cottage is part of a serialized novel told in four parts, following the journey of Beth and her new life in the Cotswolds. The full book will be out next June, but for now, enjoy Willow Cottage seasonally!

Available now to purchase on Amazon UK

Please do follow along with the blog tour, to see more from Bella Osborne