prettylittlewriter

 Synopsis
‘The book club was her idea, of course. Alice's.
It was her way into our group. A chance to get close.
I knew from the day she arrived that she couldn't be trusted.

Our MC Lucy has only been in her little village for around 3 months, but she’s already made some great friends who are all incredibly close, and love going to the pub together and getting jolly.

Suddenly she gets a new next door neighbour, Alice, who seems to be acting strange around her, and is inserting herself into her friendship group quite easily, even managing to organise a book club.

Lucy just thinks she’s very friendly to start, and desperate to make friends, but it starts to become clear quite quickly that she is actually there to cause problems.

Lucy left London due to having an affair with her boss and it ending badly, and we know early on that Alice knows about this, and for some reason is seeking revenge.

Each character within the story gets their own voice for some chapters, and we start to see the cracks within their friendships, as they are all keeping secrets from each other, some worse than others.

Alice isn’t just trying to fuck up Lucy’s life, she’s also determined to ruin the lives of the others.

There were some parts of the story that I found far-fetched, including a murder and attempted murder from Alice, as I just don’t think it would happen like that in real life. I also was a little bit disappointed with the outcome of the story, Alice’s reason for going after Lucy seemed a bit of a reach (although you can tell she’s a psychopath, so she probably thought it made sense) and also the way things get left with Lucy at the end of the story just seemed very anti-climactic.

However, overall I really did enjoy the story and the build up to the ending.

3/5 stars

Synopsis
‘When the department store she works in closes for good, Carmen has perilously little cash and few options. She doesn’t want to move in with her perfect sister Sofia, in Sofia’s perfect house with her perfect children and her perfectly ordered Edinburgh life.
Frankly, Sofia doesn’t exactly want Carmen there either. Her sister has always been sarcastic and difficult. But Sofia has yet another baby on the way, a mother desperate to see her daughters get along, and a client who needs a retail assistant for his ailing bookshop, so welcoming Carmen might still have some benefits for everyone.
At Sofia’s behest, Carmen is thrown into the daily workings of old Mr. McCredie’s ancient bookshop on the streets of the old dark city. Can she use her design skills to revamp the store and bring it back to popularity in time to benefit from Christmas shopping traffic? Can she choose between bad boy literary rock star Blair and quiet Quaker student Oke? And will she heal the rift with the most important people of all: her family?’

This was a lovely heart-warming read.

I always like to read Christmas stories over the holidays, but I ended up finishing this in January because there’s just never enough time between seeing friends and family and having a break from work!

At the start of the novel, I didn’t like Carmen. She was mean, and very selfish. But that didn’t last very long. Once she arrived at her sister’s and started working for Mr McCredie, she really turned into an MC that you like and are rooting for.

I loved watching the bond develop between her and her sister, Sofia. The fact that they hated each other to start with, and Carmen hated children, to then have them being incredibly close and the children, especially Phoebe, gravitating towards Carmen all the time, was just lovely to see.

I would say, I was waiting for the romance part of the novel to come into it a lot sooner, and as soon as we met Blair, I knew that this could not be the guy she ended up with, as he was a complete narcissist, so when it took nearly 3/4’s of the book to have a real chance at romance between Carmen and Oke, I found it slightly disappointing. It was also incredibly infuriating reading them either missing each other constantly, or one of them getting the wrong idea about another person that they were seen with, I was getting quite impatient!

I love that Carmen ended up helping Mr McCredie in more ways than one, the bookshop and his own past, with the introduction of some family member’s he didn’t know he had. It was so heart-warming and sweet to read.

Jenny has done a wonderful job of creating the most magical bookshop ever. If it existed, I would want to live there! Once Carmen had done her thing and started bringing in new decorations, and books that people would actually read, it just felt so cosy and I wanted to jump into the book and go shopping there!

Overall, I absolutely loved this book, and it really is the perfect festive read!

4/5 stars

 Synopsis
‘Bee Hobbes (aka Bianca Von Honey) has a successful career as a plus-size adult film star. With a huge following and two supportive moms, Bee couldn’t ask for more. But when Bee’s favorite producer casts her to star in a Christmas movie he’s making for the squeaky-clean Hope Channel, Bee’s career is about to take a more family-friendly direction.

This was an unexpected read. I picked it up seeing the gorgeous and cutesy cover, thinking it was going to be the perfect romcom for the holiday season. And then I read the blurb. Pornstars. It contains pornstars.

Now, there’s absolutely NOTHING wrong with pornstars or books about pornstars, it was just NOT what I expected from the cover at all!

The storyline itself is actually very well done and a refreshing take on the adult industry, showcasing that adult film actors are real people after all, with real feelings. There was a lot of body positivity too, which I thought was wonderful. The MC Bee being plus size is very inspiring, and I loved that although they touched upon her having a lot of assumptions about her and a lot a body-shaming too, her size wasn’t mentioned that often. For example, during the sex scenes with Nolan, there was no mention of her size whatsoever, which is how it should be. Bigger women are women at the end of the day, and size shouldn’t matter. (I’ve seen a couple of reviews on goodreads stating they mentioned the plus size stuff too often, but I don’t agree).

Nolan is a lovely character, a real sweetheart just trying to do his best for his family. Although he had a wild side when he was younger, and in boyband INK, it seems it was all just normal young guy stuff that he got himself into, and he was still a good guy throughout (the Duluth scandal truth came out and proves this).

I did however, think that the mention of him being bi-sexual quite a lot wasn’t needed. It was often mentioned in specific terms that he was bi, whereas it could have just been a simple mention of a hook up with certain people (which may or may not have included his former band members).

For a book that is about the adult industry, there actually wasn’t a lot of sex involved. There were a couple of wonderful sex scenes between Bee and Nolan, but it definitely wasn’t an overload of sexy moments, which I had expectations for after reading the blurb.

I was happy with the outcome of the novel, and I did enjoy the read and the characters, however, I will say that I didn’t feel connected to the characters that much, unlike other romcoms I’ve really enjoyed. Maybe because I’m an ordinary person, not an aspiring actress or former band member.

Overall, a very festive and romantic story, with a little sprinkling of spice, and it was enjoyable, but just didn’t give me many feels. There also wasn’t a meet cute, so the title is a little misleading!

3/5 stars

Synopsis
‘Sophie Beckett never dreamed she'd be able to sneak into Lady Bridgerton's famed masquerade ball—or that "Prince Charming" would be waiting there for her! Though the daughter of an earl, Sophie has been relegated to the role of servant by her disdainful stepmother. But now, spinning in the strong arms of the debonair and devastatingly handsome Benedict Bridgerton, she feels like royalty. Alas, she knows all enchantments must end when the clock strikes midnight.

Who was that extraordinary woman? Ever since that magical night, a radiant vision in silver has blinded Benedict to the attractions of any other—except, perhaps this alluring and oddly familiar beauty dressed in housemaid's garb whom he feels compelled to rescue from a most disagreeable situation. He has sworn to find and wed his mystery miss, but this breathtaking maid makes him weak with wanting her. Yet, if he offers his heart, will Benedict sacrifice his only chance for a fairy tale love?’ 

This is my favourite Bridgerton novel so far! I’m not sure whether it’s because there isn’t currently a season of the TV show to compare it to, but I just found this so much more romantic and sweet.

I loved the Cinderella storyline with Sophie, treated abhorrently by her stepmother and sisters (although Posy ended up a sweetheart!) with a deadline of making it home at midnight and leaving an item of clothing behind! One thing I must say with all of these masked ball scenarios where the man doesn’t recognise the woman in real life, is how totally unrealistic they are. I could 100% tell if they were the same person if I’d been staring at a part of their face an entire night!!

I also adored Benedict’s character. He was such a strong and empathetic character, who from the offset of meeting Sophie (as Sophie, not the mystery woman) wanted to help her, comfort her, and give her what he could. I thought Anthony was my favourite Bridgerton brother, but I now think it’s definitely Benedict!

Araminta was an absolutely horrendous woman, whom I really wished had gotten a little bit more of a punishment at the end of the novel than she did, however, I was still really impressed with Posy and how her character really grew up and took charge in the end.

Violet (Mrs Bridgerton) and the entire family actually, made Sophie feel so welcome around them, and never treated her with any disrespect or even as they would a normal maid when she started working for them at Benedict’s request, and I really believe that’s because they all knew that she was different, and that Benedict was in love with her from the start!

So overall I absolutely adored this third instalment, and I’m hoping to enjoy all the rest! The only think I would have liked more of is smut, which is why I’m giving it a 4 star rating instead of 5, but that’s not to everyone’s taste!

4/5 stars

 Today is my turn on the book tour for this incredible novel! Thank you so much to Black Crow PR for allowing me to take part and sending me a review copy!

Synopsis

Ox was sixteen when he met the boy on the road. The little boy who talked and talked and talked. Ox found out later the little boy hadn’t spoken in almost two years before that day, and that the little boy belonged to a family who had moved into the house at the end of the lane.

Ox was seventeen when he found out the little boy’s secret and it painted the world around him in colors of red and orange and violet, of Alpha and Beta and Omega.

Ox was twenty-three when murder came to town and tore a hole in his head and heart. The boy chased after the monster with revenge in his bloodred eyes, leaving Ox behind to pick up the pieces.

It’s been three years since that fateful day—and the boy is back. Except now he’s a man, and Ox can no longer ignore the song that howls between them.’

 Wow.

This is the first novel by Klune that I’ve read, and holy hell it’s good!

I went into this novel not really knowing much about it, I didn’t read the synopsis, I just knew it had werewolves. So when we dove into the life of Ox, a young man living in a middle-of-nowhere town with an abusive Father and everyone treating him differently, I was intrigued to see how they fit in with the story.

When Ox meets the werewolves, he has no idea what they are. But he falls in with them like he’s known them his whole life, with Joe, the youngest, becoming his best friend. Things were slightly weird between them, with Joe being very protective, but I saw that as a cute friendship thing (young kids can be a bit possessive over their friends).

Then one day, Ox discovers who they really are, and becomes an integral part of their life and their pack (packpackpack).

I wasn’t expecting any romance within this book, I thought it was just going to be family and friendship, so when Ox & Joe started to become more than friends, I was a little taken aback (if you’ve seen Twilight/read the books, you’ll know Jacob ‘imprints’ on a youngster, and this feels quite similar, and Klune actually throws in a joke about it too).

I mean, their love for each other is incredible, and after reading the book, I can see why it was needed, but the age gap initially was a little weird.

For anyone that has read this book already, what are your thoughts on the ‘Love’ chapter?! Shocking, incredibly detailed, and FUCKING HOT went through my head!! I had to have a break from the novel after this chapter to cool down!! I think it’s probably the most graphic sex scene I’ve ever read before, and it was impressive to say the least!

I loved the antagonistic element of the novel; it actually felt purposeful and was cleverly done. I’ve read a lot of fantasy books, and sometimes there’s a baddie involved that is destroyed within seconds during the final battle, so it was nice to have it prolonged and they actually felt like a threat to the Bennetts.

I loved almost every single character within this book, each one of them having something that I could relate to, but my favourites were definitely Ox, Gordo, Carter & Kelly!

Now, I don’t want to go into too much detail as I implore you to just go ahead and read this incredible story, but I will say, that I’m in so deep, that I cannot wait for the release of the 2^nd book, and I’m also going to go away and read the rest of Klune’s novels!

5/5 stars

 Synopsis
‘Beverley Wilson has always loved the Beatles but kissing a poster goodnight isn’t really an option when you’re a fifty-something mum of three. So when she decides it’s time to get back into the dating game, she turns to a dating agency for help.
But the long and winding road to real love is littered with dating disasters – the pantyhose pervert being the real low point and in Bev’s opinon it’s all too much. But meeting fellow Beatles fan Scott Smith changes everything…’

The pure nostalgia in this novel is incredible. If you’re a Beatles fan, or from Liverpool, this will be a delight!

When Suzan offered to send me a copy of her first novel, I was very excited as I love anything that surrounds music and dating. But I had no idea just how hilarious the book was going to be! There are some absolutely hilarious anecdotes from Beverley, and I just loved her passion for her Beatles, especially Paul!

As someone who admires and loves a couple of celebrities TO DEATH, I understand her passion!

I loved that Beverley was over 50; there certainly aren’t enough books out there written from that perspective, so it was very refreshing! She is a wonderful and hilarious person, with an unintentional comedic personality, that I just kept giggling to myself throughout.

Poor Bev had been through the ringer; her life is turned upside down by not one, but two traumatic events within the novel, and you really do feel terrible for her!

Without going into too much detail as I wouldn’t wish to spoil it for any potential readers, but I will say that I am certainly glad she manages to have a happy ending, even if the journey was a bit of a Helter Skelter!

A special little cameo from Sir Paul McCartney himself was also a lovely little treat!

Overall I thought this was a lovely, heart-warming and hilarious novel full of quips and brilliantly clever references to The Beatles throughout! I'm looking forward to reading Suzan's next novel, that has recently been published, Rock 'n' Rose. 

4/5 stars