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Blog Tour: ‘Lessons’ by Ian McEwan

I’m delighted to join the blog tour for ‘Lessons’ by Ian McEwan today.

Thanks to Random Things Tours and Jonathan Cape for my place on the tour and for the copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Blog Blast: ‘Tell Me Everything’ by Laura Kay

Thanks to Milly Reid at Quercus for inviting me onto the blog blast for ‘Tell Me Everything’ by Laura Kay which publishes TODAY!

Thanks to Quercus too for my proof of this quirky and uplifting book – as always, opinions are entirely my own.

Blog Tour: ‘The Love that Dares’ by Rachel Smith and Barbara Vesey

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for ‘The Love that Dares’, a collection of letters by LGBTQ+ writers throughout the ages.

Thanks to Random Things Tours for inviting me on to the tour and for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was published on 27th January 2022 by Ilex Press.

(Audio)Book Review: ‘The Confession’ by Jessie Burton

I’m really sorry that I let this one sit on my NetGalley shelf for so long! Thanks to NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

The story opens in 1980 with the chance meeting of two women on Hampstead Common. Elise Morceau is young and naive and immedialtely falls under the spell of Constance Holden. Connie is older, already a successful writer and confident in ways Elise isn’t. When Connie’s book gets made into a Hollywood film, Elise accompanies her to Los Angeles and the pair fall into a glamorous party lifestyle.

This 1980s story – essentially of the relationship between the two women – is interspersed with a present day story in which Rose Simmonds is looking for her mother. When she learns that Connie was part of her mother’s life, she decides to ask some difficult questions of the writer – now in her 70s and a recluse…

Blog Tour: ‘Hotel Portofino’ by J P O’Connell

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for ‘Hotel Portofino’ by J P O’Connell.

Thanks to Random Things Tours and Simon and Schuster for inviting me on the tour and for the copy of the the book in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: ‘Between the Covers’ by Jilly Cooper

I love Jilly Cooper – her Rutshire Chronicles were pretty much my constant companions throughout my teens and twenties – and was so pleased to be granted access to read this collection of her journalism. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

The book features a selection of Cooper’s journalism covering the period she wrote columns for The Times (roughly from the end of the 1960s to the early 1980s). As expected from Cooper, it features meditations on sex – the raunchy nature of her fiction books is well-known – but also mid-life, family, pets, domesticity, relationships and plenty more. It is also packed with humour – there’s lots of self-deprecation, witty turns of phrase, puns and plenty of Cooper’s ability to see the ridiculous in situations.

Book Review: ‘A Woman Made of Snow’ by Elisabeth Gifford

I love historical fiction, am utterly intrigued by the Arctic as a setting for a novel and am totally sold on duel timeline stories. It was clear before I even opened this book that it would tick a lot of boxes for me.

I just didn’t appreciate quite how many.

I loved everything about this book – the setting, the time periods, the gorgeous descriptive language, the characters, the mystery. Everything!

Book Review: ‘Glide’ by Alison Jean Lester

I was contacted by the author to review this novel and she kindly provided my review copy – thank you to Alison Jean Lester for my book, ‘Glide’ coaster and postcard. This has not influenced my review – as always, opinions are my own.

I’ll admit I didn’t fully know what to expect from this novel. I knew it was a study of human relationships, had some psychological drama and also featured photographs alongside the text – all of which intrigued me!

Book Review: ‘The Christie Affair’ by Nina de Gramont

I love crime novels – especially Agatha Christie’s – so jumped at the chance to read this fictionalised account of the period during 1926 when Christie disappeared for 11 days. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my review copy of this book, to be published in January 2022.

(Audio)Book Review: ‘The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym’ by Paula Byrne

I’ll admit I perhaps didn’t come to this book for the most obvious reason. I didn’t actually know anything about Barbara Pym or her books, but have read and enjoyed several biographies by Paula Byrne and so was keen to read this. I’m grateful to NetGalley and Fourth Estate Books for my copy of her latest book in exchange for an honest review.