Hello! Happy Saturday and HAPPY EASTER!! May the easter bunny bring you lots of chocolate!!
On the book front it’s been another good week of reading! Managed to finish 4 books this week, received 1 book in the post for review and was tempted by 1 book at Netgalley! So a nice balance… for a change!! Here’s my look back! click on the book title for more info on each book!
Delighted to be with you today to show off a lovely cover reveal! My thanks to the author, publisher and Rachel of Rachel’s Random Resources, for putting this blitz together and letting me be part of it all!
Here’s a little bit about the book first to get you in the mood!
A Scottish Highland Hideaway
A brand new autumnal story of love, believing in yourself and starting over set in the Scottish Highlands
For Bailey McArthur, her family and job mean everything. She runs her own floristry shop and loves spending time in nature in the pretty town of Heather Moore, whilst desperately trying to forget about being jilted on her wedding day.
When journalist Zach Stern arrives in town asking questions about a famous actor, Bailey decides to throw him off the trail of the superstar hiding out in the Scottish Highlands.
But despite Bailey’s efforts to thwart Zach’s investigation, she finds herself falling for him. It’s just a shame she can’t be honest with him. But then, Bailey might not be the only one with a secret to hide…
Publication Dates – 23 August (E-Book) & 29 August (Paperback)
Author Bio –
Julie Shackman is a former journalist from Scotland, who has always wanted to write feel-good romance.
As well as being an author, Julie also writes verses and captions for greetings card companies. Julie admits to having an obsession with stationery and handbags.
She is married, has two sons and adopted a Romanian rescue puppy, Cooper.
A Scottish Highland Hideaway is Julie’s eleventh novel.
A thoroughly uplifting novel about a neurodivergent young man who unexpectedly builds a community and saves a friend in need by following—in a way only he can—his mother’s words of wisdom.
Joe-Nathan likes the two parts of his name separate, just like dinner and dessert. Mean Charlie at work sometimes calls him Joe-Nuthin. But Joe is far from nothing. Joe is a good friend, good at his job, good at making things and at following rules, and he is learning how to do lots of things by himself.
Joe’s mother knows there are a million things he isn’t yet prepared for. While she helps to guide him every day, she is also writing notebooks of advice for Joe, of all the things she hasn’t yet told him about life and things he might forget.
By following her advice, Joe’s life is about to be more of a surprise than he expects. Because he’s about to learn that remarkable things can happen when you leave your comfort zone, and that you can do even the hardest things with a little help from your friends.
Joe has stolen my heart!! What a wonderful character! His story is extraordinary and made me both laugh and cry in equal measures!!
Joe clearly has challenges in his life – he likes everything to be simple as that’s what makes sense to him. He lives with his mum who helps him along the way, and he works at the local supermarket, where mean colleague Charlie picks on him and calls him names. But Joe sees everyone with goodness in his heart so doesn’t really take on board how cruel Charlie is towards him.
Rosie is the loveliest of characters and a wonderful ally to Joe. She stands for no nonsense and it was wonderful to see her relationship with Joe, both at work and outside in the real world. And she really steps up when Joe’s life really changes and with her help, and that of the ‘guidebooks’ that his devoted Mum has written for him to help him cope with all that life may throw his way, we are taken on an extraordinary ride as he has to deal with challenges. The support network he has with Rosie and his neighbours is totally wonderful.
The issue of Charlie being mean to him would have many of us running the other way, but with Joe he has a heart of gold so wants to try and understand Charlie more and that leads to a really touching part of the book and was really well dealt with, without being OTT or twee.
A must read for all the feels – have those tissues handy!!
Delighted to be with you today as part of the 1 day Blog Blitz for the fabulous The Sunshine Sisters; Aurora by Rosie Green! My thanks to the author, publisher and Rachel of Rachels’ Random Resources for putting this all together and letting me be part of it all!
ABOUT THE BOOK
The Sunshine Sisters: Aurora (Little Duck Pond Café) This is the first book in an exciting new trilogy (‘The Sunshine Sisters’, part of the Little Duck Pond Café series) about three sisters, who are all – in their different ways – searching for something missing in their lives. They haven’t been close since a shocking incident years ago sent them spinning off in different directions. Will the village of Sunnybrook work its magic and finally reunite the family?
In this first story, Rori has escaped a desperate situation by fleeing to the village. But can she really leave her past behind, or will it come back to haunt her, as she fears it will? Can she find the peace and happiness she craves in Sunnybrook?
Rosie’s series of Little Duck Pond Café novellas is centred around life in a country village cafe. ‘A Winter Wonderland’ is out now. Look out for Skye’s story and Blossom’s story, completing ‘The Sunshine Sisters’ trilogy – out in April and June! Follow Rosie on Twitter – https://twitter.com/Rosie_Green88
MY REVIEW
A new offering from The Little Duck Pond cafe series, and this time it’s a spin off trilogy featuring The Sunshine Sisters, and this 1st book centres around Rori who is looking for a fresh start after escaping an abusive relationship, and Sunnybrook offers her that safety. Or so she thinks!
You instantly connect with Rori as you feel for her as she still seems really nervy, and the trauma she’d been through really affected her health so this new start is very much deserved. Her story looks back over her time with Nash and how it all seemed perfect, but all was not what it seemed and just shows that people can be very different behind closed doors.
Living in Sunnybrook finds new connections and new interests for her and I loved the supportive people around her, but that is threatened when her past encounters might be catching up with her. I can’t even begin to imagine that sense of dread she feels when her new life but be in danger and I thought the author did a brilliant job of capturing her emotions and fear.
Another wonderful installment in this series and I can’t wait to find out more about the Sunshine sisters in the forthcoming stories!!
Hello! Happy Saturday!! The build up to Easter continues and spotted this lovely chick and bunnies on a nearby postbox this past week! I may have bought myself some mini eggs this past week too!!
And on the book front it’s been another good bookish week on the reading front with 3 more books finished, and then 0 added to my shelves!! Yep you read that right!! Here’s my look back!
Hello! Happy Saturday!! It’s feeling more springlike here, after a soggy start to the week, so I’m hoping the sunshine and warmth continues!!
And I’ve been in the reading mood this week, with 5 books finished, and only 1 newbie added to my netgalley shelf! Better control from me for a change!! Here’s my look back! click on the book title for more info on each book!
Delighted to be joining you today as part of the bloggers celebration of the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize 2024 longlist – all leading up to the shortlist being revealed on the 21st March! So we are here to introduce you to some of the longlist, and share our thoughts on what we’ve been reading!
Please click here to visit my blog post that I recently posted about the longlist in full…..
So today I’ll be sharing my thoughts on Open Up by Thomas Morris
ABOUT THE BOOK
The new collection from a literary star – five achingly tender, innovative and dazzling stories of (dis)connection.
From a child attending his first football match, buoyed by secret magic, and a wincingly humane portrait of adolescence, to the perplexity of grief and loss through the eyes of a seahorse, Thomas Morris seeks to find grace, hope and benevolence in the churning tumult of self-discovery.
Philosophically acute. Wincingly humane. Strikingly original. This outstanding suite of stories is bursting with a bracing emotional depth. Open Up cracks the heart as it expands the short story form.
Thomas Morris, Open Up (Faber & Faber) Thomas Morris is from Caerphilly, South Wales. His debut story collection, We Don’t Know What We’re Doing (Faber & Faber) won the Wales Book of the Year, the Rhys Davies Trust Fiction Prize, and a Somerset Maugham Award. In 2023, he was named one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists. Open Up, his second book of stories, was published by Faber & Faber in August 2023.
MY REVIEW
This is my first introduction to the writing of Thomas Morris, and I’m won over!! This is a really absorbing collection of short stories that focus on a range of human emotions, and those little moments in our life that shape us, for good or bad, and he really does capture the significance of the ordinary occurrences that have the biggest impact.
He really covers a wide mix of themes within the short stories, from a boy attending a football match with his Dad, to seahorses, holidays and vampires! I often find short stories a little ‘samey’ but there’s none of that here as he explores the different situations and characters so brilliantly.
Within each story you get a real sense of the impact of family dynamics, those memories that fracture a personality as they experience life from the highs to the lows and how feeling different sets them apart and leaves characters striving to find a sense of fitting in, seeking connection and validation.
The language the author uses doesn’t sugar coat the reality and darkness that these characters feel as they go through their lives. And I’ve never been so invested in the lives of seahorses as in the story ‘Aberkariad’, which could easily have been a novel all on its’ own!
I’ve already picked up this book a couple more times since my first reading, and I’m finding that I’m getting more from each story the more I read them and that is the power of the writing I’m sure! A short story collection that deserves a place on the bookshelves of everybody!
Renowned journalist and author of The Heart is a Shifting Sea Elizabeth Flock investigates what few dare to confront, or even imagine: the role and necessity of female-led violence in response to systems built against women.
In The Furies, Elizabeth Flock examines how three real-life women have used violence to fight back, and how views of women who defend their lives are often distorted by their depictions in media and pop culture. These three immersive narratives follow Brittany Smith, a young woman from Stevenson, Alabama, who killed a man she said raped her but was denied the protection of the Stand-Your-Ground law; Angoori Dahariya, leader of a gang in Uttar Pradesh, India, dedicated to avenging victims of domestic abuse; and Cicek Mustafa Zibo, a fighter in a thousands-strong all-female militia that battled ISIS in Syria. Each woman chose to use lethal force to gain power, safety, and freedom when the institutions meant to protect them—government, police, courts—utterly failed to do so. Each woman has been criticized for their actions by those who believe that violence is never the answer.
Through Flock’s propulsive prose and remarkable research on the ground—embedded with families, communities, and organizations in America, India, and Syria—The Furies examines, with exquisite nuance, whether the fight for women’s safety is fully possible without force. Do these women’s acts of vengeance help or hurt them, and ultimately, all women? Did they create lasting change in entrenched misogynistic and paternalistic systems? And ultimately, what would societies in which women have real power look like?
Across mythologies and throughout history, the stories of women’s lives frequently end with their bodies as sites of violence. But there are also celebrated tales of women, real and fictional, who have fought back. The novelistic accounts of these three women provoke questions about how to achieve true gender equality, and offer profound insights in the quest for answers.
This is an extremely powerful read, following the stories of 3 women forced to use extreme measures to get justice. The author uses her own trauma as a reason for wanting to research some extraordinary stories that she’d heard about, while mulling over the ‘what ifs’ that she often thought about if she’d taken action over what happened to her.
It also makes you think about dilemma of does it make things worse if you react to something that happens to you – but when you feel let down by the courts or powers that be, sometimes it’s the only way to get justice or peace of mind.
The author meets the women involved so she really gets a sense of their character and their motivation and their stories are amazing.
Brittany had an extremely tough life and lost custody of her children, and uses that motivation to get them back to get clean. When she’s raped by a ‘friend’, her brother gets involved to help and ends up in a fight so Brittany is forced to shoot, killing their attacker and she gets charged with murder. How she is treated afterwards is a thing of nightmares, including the reporting shifting the narrative and it really does shine a spotlight on the minefield of how rape is reported and how women are treated.
Angoori is the next woman featured and she sets out on a journey of avenging victims of domestic abuse in India – a real life ‘Bandit Queen’. She puts together a group of women to deal with the aftermath of violence, because there’s no help from the police and it was fascinating to read her story about staying on the right side of the law.
The final woman featured is Cicek, a fighter in Syria who fought against ISIS in an all female militia and you can only have nothing but admiration for these women who put themselves in harms way to fight the good fight. She is totally fearless and even when injured, her only thought is to get back out fighting again.
The variety of stories are so different but so inspiring and I love that these women have been given a voice through this book. I’m also sure that the author could have told a hundred more stories of a similar vein and it was a book that has stayed with me long after because of the sickening treatment these women faced. A must read!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
My thanks to the team at Viking Books for the advanced reader copy in return for a fair and honest review.
An intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.
Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.
As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over- whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.
But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.
The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.
Exquisite writing once more from Kristin Hannah!! This is a epic tale of women and the prejudices they faced when putting themselves through extraordinary times.
Centred around the time of the Vietnam War, we are introduced to Frankie who is very close to her brother, Finley and he’s about to set off to join the war effort. It’s always been expected for the boys of the family to join the military and become ‘heroes’ so his path has always been determined. Frankie has always wanted more from her life, rather than the marriage/motherhood path expected of her so she surprises everyone by becoming a nurse who also serves in Vietnam. Her parents, father especially, aren’t as happy with her career path and you really see the double standards of how they treat her brother to her choice. When tragedy hits, she’s even more determined to follow her own path and become a hero in her own way and the reality of war really hits when she’s landed in Vietnam and thrown in the deep end.
She also sees the lies that the American government are telling those back home and this is beautifully explored with the writing – how there are 2 sides to every story and the impact of those back home being told one thing that is very different from what is actually going on. She sees the cruelty and suffering of soldiers and the innocents in Vietnam and it’s horrific to read at times.
As she returns home she also faces hatred from those protesting the war, and even dismissed by fellow soldiers who are adamant no women served in Vietnam. She was witness to the horrors and that really impacts on her mental state, even more so when her family aren’t proud of her. She’s a very different woman now and her experiences at home and abroad leave a lasting impact on her.
This was a absorbing and emotive read and I was totally swept up in the drama of it all. The author always has a way with her writing of making the characters so real and I was just in awe of Frankie and the other women she served with. Wonderful!!
Hello! Happy Saturday!! Hope you’re doing what I’m doing and avoiding the real world and keeping in book world! It’s a much happier place to be!
And this week has been an ok reading week – 3 books finished, 1 new Netgalley addition and 3 books in the post for review! That TBR mountain is never going to stop growing is it?! Here’s my look back! click on the book title for more info….