Cover Reveal: One Hot Summer

Check out the stunning new release from Kat French.

One Hot Summer is released in paperback and e-book on 2nd June

Being married to a celebrity isn't all it's cracked up to be, especially when that celebrity has a very public affair with his co-star…

Alice McBride is determined that the one thing she won't lose in her marriage breakup is Borne Manor, her beloved home, but she gets more than she bargained for when she rents it out for the summer and a sexy cowboy comes to stay.

Country music star Robinson Duff has had his own share of heartbreak and needs somewhere quiet to hide out for the summer. Neither Alice nor Robinson are in any position for romance; the timing is terrible and they're both rebounding like out of control frisbees.

Can a holiday romance help mend their broken hearts. Or will it just make things even worse when the long hot summer comes to its inevitable end?

Pre-Order: Amazon UK | BooK Depository | Waterstones | Wordery

Follow @KatFrench_

Faceless

Title: Faceless
Author: Alyssia B. Sheinmel
Type: Paperback
Read: 9th April - 12th April 2016
Rating: 4/5
Published: 7th January 2016 by Chicken House

When Maisie is struck by lightning, her face is partially destroyed. She's lucky enough to get a face transplant, but how do you live your life when you can't even recognize yourself anymore? She was a runner, a girlfriend, a good student ...a normal girl. Now, after a single freak accident, all that has changed. As Maisie discovers how much her looks did and didn't shape her relationship to the world, she has to redefine her own identity, and figure out what 'lucky' really means.

Imagin deciding to go for a run, which you do every day for that one moment to be the worse choice of your life. When you finally wake up to realise you are in hopsital and your life has changed forever. What do you do? How do you cope? And how easy is it for a girl still in school to cope?

Masie wakes up to find her face has pretty much melted off after an electrical fire. She's faceless. No nose, cheeks and chin, shes in pain and covered in bandages. But she doesn't yet know that. How does she cope? When she becomes the first person her doctor has completed a face translpant on, how will her life change?

I loved this story. I liked the get in there and explain it all from the go way. It's a story about loving yourself again after what feels like the worse thing to ever happen to you. It's about acepting change and reaching out for new things. Its about being fearless and your own person.

It's a book that will make you judge people differently. It's not always nice to be stared at for things beyond your control.  

Go Get it From: Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones | Wordery
Follow @AlyssaSheinmel

 

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Title: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Author: Lewis Carroll
Type: Paperback
Read: 3rd April - 8th April 2016
Rating: 4/5
Published: 30th August 2012 by Penguin Classics (originally published 1871)

Lewis Carroll's anarchic, disturbing, and boisterously funny Alice stories, conjured up one afternoon to entertain a young girl, are a unique blend of wordplay, logic, parody, puzzles, and riddles.

Their dream worlds of nonsensical Wonderland and the back-to-front Looking Glass kingdom depict order turned upside-down: a baby turns into a pig, time is abandoned at an unruly tea-party and a chaotic game of chess makes a seven-year-old girl a Queen. But, amongst the eccentric humour and witty conundrums, are poignant moments of nostalgia for a lost childhood.  

I read this book when I was a child and loved it then. I think its one of the most bizzar childrens book ever, but its great for those with a good imagination. You just want to follow Alice down the rabbit hole into all the adventures she comes to. It's a fun book.

I can't quite remember if I've ever read 'Through the Looking Glass' before or not, so this was an added bonus in this collection. Both stories are equally great.

I also have to note that I'm in love with the cover. This is one of the first 'Pegnuins English Library' Colleciton that I've brought - i'm after them all. They're stunning.

Go Get it From: Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones | Wordery

Cover Reveal: Milkshakes & Heartbreaks at the Starlight Diner

Take a look at this stunning cover for 'Milkshakes & Heartbreaks at the Starlight Diner' by Helen Cox.

Next time you’re in New York, take a turn off Broadway onto East Houston Street.

There, you’ll see it: The Starlight Diner. A retro eatery curious enough to delight tourists and locals alike. Fifties tunes stream out of the jukebox long into the night, and it serves the tastiest milkshakes in the five boroughs.

Esther Knight waitresses at The Starlight Diner. She’s sharp, sarcastic, and she’s hiding something. Nobody at the diner knows why she left London for New York – or why she repeatedly resists the charms of their newest regular, actor Jack Faber.

Esther is desperate to start a new life in the land of the free, but despite the warm welcome from the close-knit diner crowd, something from her past is holding her back. Can she ever learn to love and live again?

E-book released by Avon on 4th July

Pre-Order: Amazon UK

Follow @Helenography

 

The Shadow Year

Title: The Shadow Year
Author: Hannah Richell
Type: Paperback
Read: 16th March - 2nd April
Rating: 3/5
Published: 26th September 2013 by Orion Books

1980. On a hot summer's day five friends stumble upon an abandoned cottage hidden deep in the English countryside. Isolated and run-down, it offers a retreat, somewhere they can escape from the world. But as the seasons change, tensions begin to rise...

Three decades later, Lila arrives at the remote cottage. Bruised from a tragic accident and with her marriage in crisis, she finds renovating the tumbledown house gives her a renewed sense of purpose. But why did the cottage's previous inhabitants leave their belongings behind? And why can't she shake the feeling that someone is watching her?

A story told over time, where it switches back from the 80's to the present day. How does Lila and an cottage she has been left all fit together. The basis of the book was good. I just found it such a struggle to read. I loved Hannah's previous book and kinda had high hopes for this. But the characters annoyed me too much. I found it dragged on far too long and i could never see the link between Lila and the cottage of the past until we get to pretty much the end.

Kat as a character was the worse. I really couldn't put up with her selfishness. Her down right just being dumb. She pinned over Simon like he was gods gift to all women on the planet when he really was a bully.

I'm not even sure i can write a good review. The ending helped bump this story to 3 stars. I was toying with the idea of giving up but im aiming to avoid that this year.

Go Get it From: Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones | Wordery
Follow @hannahrichell 

 

Cover Reveal: Summer at the Cornish Cafe

Check out the summery cover for 'Summer at the Cornish Cafe' by Phillipa Ashley

Demi doesn't expect her summer in Cornwall to hold anything out of the ordinary. As a waitress, working all hours to make ends meet, washing dishes and serving ice creams seems to be as exciting as the holiday season is about to get.

That's until she meets Cal Penwith. An outsider, like herself, Cal is persuaded to let Demi help him renovate his holiday resort, Kilhallon Park. Set above an idyllic Cornish cove, the once popular destination for tourists has now gone to rack and ruin. During the course of the Cornish summer, Demi makes new friends - and foes - as she helps the dashing and often infuriating Cal in his quest. Working side by side, the pair grow close, but Cal has complications in his past which makes Demi wonder if he could ever truely be interestedin her.

Demi realises that she has finally found a place she can call home. But as the summer draws to a close, and Demi's own reputation as an up and coming cafe owner starts to spread, she is faced with a tough decision...

A gorgeous story exploring new beginnings, new love and new opportunities, set against the stunning background of the Cornish coast. Phillipa Ashley has written a feisty, compelling heroine who leaps off teh page and encourages you to live your summer to the full.

E-book released by Avon on 5th May 2016

Pre-Order: Amazon UK

Follow @PhillipaAshley

March Wrap Up & Book Haul

We're a quarter the way through the year already. I'm actually scared this year is going to just be over with. It's mad how fast it's going. Anyways. March. It was a difficult month for me in general and because of that, my reading suffered big time. I'm actually still on a book I started probably the second week in March and I just cant' get it over with. I'm giving it to this weekend to be done with otherwise it's just getting rid of. I don't want to do that either. 

So another three books were read. Which now brings me to 17 books towards my goal of 60. I was sent a copy of 'The Teacher' by Avon in time to be on the blog tour. You really have to read the book. 

Total pages read: 795

I did buy some books in March. It's actually four but I forgot to include Kindred Spirits in the picture.

- Flawed - Cecelia Ahern

- The Missing - C.L. Taylor - rec'd from the publisher

- Reasons to Stay Alive - Matt Haig

- Kindred Spirits - Rainbow Rowell

I'm excited to read Cecelia's first YA novel. I'm a huge Cecelia fan, i've every book she's ever released so it wasnt' a question of not getting it. And I loved Cally Taylors 'The Lie' last month so really happy that i've managed to get a copy of this book. Hoping once i get out of my reading stump it will be my first read.

I know i said i'd not buy books in February's wrap up unless i cleared out space. Well i've boxed a number of books up ready for boot sales, as i would love for others to read them. Plus i know i'll not read those books again.

I'm really hoping April gets better. But am off to Disneyland at the end of the month. I've 28 days to read some books. I'm not off track though. So will get to my 60!

Any book recommendations? What are you looking forward to reading this month?