Category: Contemporary Fiction

26/4/2018 0 Comments

Review: The Man Who Didn't Call

The Man Who Didn't Call by Rosie Walsh

Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Page Length: 305 Pages
Publication Date: 1 May 2018
Publisher: Mantle
Source: NetGalley

Stars: 5 out of 5

LINKS: Amazon (UK)

ABOUT THE MAN WHO DIDN'T CALL
The Man Who Didn't Call by Rosie Walsh is a heart-wrenching love story with a dark secret at its heart, for anyone who's waited for a phone call that didn't come.
Imagine you meet a man, spend seven glorious days together, and fall in love. And it’s mutual: you’ve never been so certain of anything. So when he leaves for a long-booked holiday and promises to call from the airport, you have no cause to doubt him.
But he doesn’t call. Your friends tell you to forget him, but you know they're wrong: something must have happened; there must be a reason for his silence. What do you do when you finally discover you're right? That there is a reason -- and that reason is the one thing you didn't share with each other?
The truth.

My Review:

1) Stop what you are doing.
2) Book a weekend away in a remote cottage with a comfortable armchair.
3) Read this book.

An absolutely brilliant book.

From the moment Sarah and Eddie met I was vying for them to end up together, but every twist and turn assured me it was impossible. I read the last quarter of the book in one sitting on a long bus journey and I have to admit that I started to sob a few chapters from the end. At least the other passengers were polite enough to ignore my tears.

It was the literary equivalent of spending the evening wrapped in a duvet, with a tub of Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream, and binge-watching a favourite box set.

VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of The Man Who Didn't Call in exchange for my honest review.

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15/3/2018 0 Comments

Review: Two Steps Forward

Two Steps Forward by Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist

Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Page Length: 368 Pages
Publication Date: 5 April 2018
Publisher: Two Roads
Source: ARC via NetGalley

Stars: 5 out of 5

LINKS: Amazon (UK)

ABOUT TWO STEPS FORWARD

Zoe, a sometime artist, is from California. Martin, an engineer, is from Yorkshire. Both have ended up in picturesque Cluny, in central France. Both are struggling to come to terms with their recent past - for Zoe, the death of her husband; for Martin, a messy divorce.
Looking to make a new start, each sets out alone to walk two thousand kilometres from Cluny to Santiago de Compostela, in northwestern Spain, in the footsteps of pilgrims who have walked the Camino (the Way) for centuries. The Camino changes you, it's said. It's a chance to find a new version of yourself, and a new beginning. But can these two very different people find themselves? Will they find each other?
In this smart, funny and romantic journey, Martin's and Zoe's stories are told in alternating chapters by husband-and-wife team Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist. Two Steps Forward is a novel about renewal - physical, psychological and spiritual. It's about the challenge of walking a long distance and of working out where you are going. And it's about what you decide to keep, what you choose to leave behind and what you rediscover along the way.

My Review:

I loved the Rosie Project, so when I heard Graeme Simsion with his wife Anne Buist (his very own Rosie?) had written a book together I couldn’t wait to read it.

The two storytellers intertwined beautifully with the point of view changing at the beginning of each chapter.
And by chapter seven I was searching the Internet for 90-day Camino pilgrimages. It was hard to put down and I found myself forgoing evening television to continue my journey with Zoe and Martin. It was a delightful book to read.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Many thanks to Two Roads and NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of Two Steps Forward in exchange for my honest review.

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8/3/2018 0 Comments

Review: The Love Factory

The Love Factory by Elaine Proctor

Genre: Contemporary Fiction/Romance
Page Length: 400 Pages
Publication Date: 22 March 2018
Publisher: Quercus
Source: ARC via NetGalley

Stars: 4.5 out of 5

LINKS: Amazon (UK)

ABOUT THE LOVE FACTORY

Anna is a writer whose small but perfectly formed novels sell zip. When she falls on hard times and tries her hand at erotic fiction, she faces an uncomfortable truth. Though she's a wife and mother of two, her stories fail to fly because she's never experienced true sexual desire. Even her Sicilian grandmother - wearer of diamante sunglasses and knock-off Louis Vuitton - knows more than she does about true passion.
A romance-writing workshop doesn't help, so Anna turns to her friends for inspiration. As secrets and desires are revealed, Anna discovers more about the people close to her than she ever knew. When Cordelia, a romance-writing classmate, suggests she borrows an alter ego to banish her inhibitions, a new world opens up to Anna and The Love Factory - a group of writers penning ever more successful sexy stories - is born.
And yet Anna knows that she can't rely on borrowed passion and an alter ego forever. For her tales to truly sizzle, she needs to find a proper love of her own.

My Review:

The Love Factory is a beautiful book. I loved the pace and the build. I felt for Anna (the protagonist) and her circumstances, how the family was placed amongst its setting, and her relationships with her friends. I was rooting for her the whole time. Cordelia was a solid spunky addition to the story. The stories within the story all worked beautifully. You always wanted more from the episodes of the story stories from the Love Factory as did the fictitious customers.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Many thanks to Quercus and NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of The Love Factory in exchange for my honest review.

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