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18/7/2018 0 Comments

Review: The Break

The Break by Marian Keyes
 
Genre: Romance/ Women's Fiction  
Page Length: 570 Pages
Publication Date: 7 September 2017
Publisher: Penguin
 
Stars:  5 out of 5
 
Link: AMAZON (UK)
 
ABOUT THE BREAK
 
'Myself and Hugh . . . We're taking a break.'
 
'A city-with-fancy-food sort of break?'
 
If only.
Amy's husband Hugh says he isn't leaving her.
He still loves her, he's just taking a break - from their marriage, their children and, most of all, from their life together.
Six months in South-East Asia. And nothing she says can stop him.
But when does a break become a break up?
For a lot can happen in six months. And it's enough to send Amy and her family of gossips, misfits and troublemakers teetering over the edge.
When Hugh returns if he returns, will he be the same man she married?
Will Amy be the same woman?
Because if Hugh is on a break from their marriage, then isn't she?
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My Review:

I have been Marian Keyes since the beginning. I had to look up when her first book Watermelon had been published (1995) to work out how long our relationship was – over 20 years. The women in her books were making the same mistakes and me and my peers, and now twenty years later, the characters are older and wiser, but then so am I.
 
I had The Break for a few months before starting.  And this is one of my strange habits with books from authors I love. I don't want to binge the book, for it to be gone too quickly. I want to savour and enjoy every sentence.
 
The Break is told in two timelines; the present day and starting from twenty years previously, until the timelines meet. The story of a marriage that has perhaps gone stale isn't new, but the actions to prevent settling for just that feels novel and fresh.
 
As always there is more than meets the eye to any Marian Keyes' novel, and in this case there is an side plot involving the complexities of abortion in Ireland that really resonated with me, especially in light of the recent referendum to repeal the 8th amendment.
 
The book made me cry, it made me angry, and it made me laugh. What more could I ask for?
 
Next time I won't wait so long to read a new Marian Keyes' book!
 
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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8/7/2018 0 Comments

Review: Ivy and Abe

Ivy and Abe by Elizabeth Enfield
 
Genre: Literary Fiction/Romance
Page Length: 368 Pages
Publication Date: 28 June 2018 (Paperback)
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Source: ARC via NetGalley
 
Stars:  5 out of 5

 
Link: AMAZON (UK)

 
ABOUT IVY AND ABE:
 
Two people. One love story. A million possibilities.

 They're soulmates.
Ivy and Abe were inseparable as children until an accident tore them apart. Several decades later, when both are in their seventies, a chance encounter reunites them. But time is not on their side.
 
What if they'd met in a different time and place?
 
In another life, Ivy and Abe meet in their forties, when both are married already. Unable to resist the attraction between them, they embark on a passionate affair.
 
In yet another, they marry young, with a bright future ahead of them - only for a dark shadow to threaten their happiness.
 
Throughout various incarnations of their lives, they come together and go their separate ways, fall in and out of love, make or break promises.
 
In every universe, Ivy and Abe are meant to meet. But are they meant to be?
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My Review:

IVY AND ABE was my next book to read.  I try to read books in order of publication date - as it happens the e-book was published in February and the publication date of 28 June 2018 is actually the date for the paperbook.
 
I remember seeing a quote declaring IVY AND ABE was "THE romance of the year”. But when the epigraph mentions Stephen Hawkins, and a quote from It’s a Wonderful life, and the first chapter opens in 2026 - woah, what is going on?!  I went back to the book blurb - got it. Let’s begin...
 
An amazing and heartfelt story of the lives and lives of Abe and Ivy. I was fully engaged from the get-go and as the first section ended I was holding back the tears. Not only was the story an emotional rollercoaster, it included a multitude of stories from travelling in the UK and around the world which sparked my own wanderlust. And with the different eras it offers both a historical and a contemporary story.
 
With books like this, the substance of the story and the quality of the writing has to outweigh the novelty of the premise, which is why The Time Traveler's Wife holds the bar so high. I'm glad to report that this book does both and is an incredible read.
 
A timely reminder of love in all its glory.
And I have to agree - it is the romance of the year!
 
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
 
Thank you so much the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary electronic copy in return for an 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.

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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.
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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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