Book Review: Beyond Sin by Emma-Louise Jordan

Jessie O''Neill's sister Andrea is due to get married to the love of her life, but Jessie just can't be happy for her. Jessie's marriage to her husband seems to be over, but Jessie can't admit her failure to her friends and family, leaving her spiralling out of control into the depths of despair and depression.

All goes fine until the wedding reception when the O'Neill family finally starts to crack, and then Jessie goes missing. Jessie's family frantically try to find out what was going on in her life and find her before it's too late.

But does Jessie want to go back and face her family, or is her deep sin just one too many for her to bear?Read more »

Author Interview: Fiona O'Brien

Fiona O'Brien emailed us a while ago saying she wasn't aware people in the UK knew her books existed, but I reviewed her third novel None of My Affair, and loved it. Fiona's latest book is called No Reservations and was released earlier this year! We also managed to get an interview with Fiona which you can read below.

1. Tell us about your latest novel (No Reservations).

No Reservations began as a idea of a restaurant chasing its first Michelin Star. But then the characters who frequented it kind of took over the story......here’s preview of what’s going on:

Newly opened Dominic’s is the hottest restaurant in town.
On any given day, rock stars, fashionistas, politicians, and celebrities can be found drooling over the food or the latest gossip - and the most delicious item on the menu is its divinely handsome proprietor, Dom Coleman-Cappabianca.

But Dom has rather a lot on his plate: his Italian mother Cici for starters - a glamorous Sophia Loren lookalike, who’s behaving very naughtily indeed.
Then there’s his blonde PR exec girlfriend Tanya, who seems hell bent on promoting her own interests.

Enter Italian American beauty Carla Berlusconi fleeing her native New York to escape her old fashioned father and three macho brothers. Arriving in Dublin, she hides out in Dominic’s as a waitress. But who is she? And what is her real story?

P.J. O’ Sullivan is always getting himself into hot water: the sexiest doctor in town, he loves good food, good company, and his adoring dog Bones.  But can he ever forge a relationship with his resentful son Alex? And will he ever heal from his beloved wife’s death and find true love again?
Charlotte Keating is the perfect daughter, the perfect mother and now, the perfectly behaved divorcee . But her daughter Candy is about to change all that.  Thanks to her indulgent and very rich father, Ossie Keating, Candy knows there’s nothing money can’t buy – until having too much of it proves a recipe for trouble.

From loquacious Dublin, to the eternal delights of romantic Rome, and New York, the city that never sleeps, a series of sizzling revelations ensure Dominic’s glamorous patrons discover that some things are definitely better off the menu.

And while Dominic’s chases its first Michelin Star, more than one person is forced to admit – that when love is the dish of the day, and family fidelity is tested to its limits - there’s always second helpings when it comes to love.

2. Your stories revolve about relationships. Where do you get your inspiration from?

Life. People and relationships fascinate me – particularly family dynamics.  Also, while a lot of fiction delivers happy endings, it’s important to remember that in real life, any happy ending involves a lot of compromise or indeed sometimes heartache to get there.  Life is never black and white – its shades of gray. I like to take a situation whether its a family, a marriage or a relationship and say to my reader: you might think this appears to be this way – but in fact, if we scratch beneath the surface, we’ll see that things are not quite what they appear.

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Book Review: The Secret Shopper Unwrapped by Kate Harrison

Emily, Sandie and Grazia are back! The Secret Shopping angels are still shopping, but this time they've got the Christmas season to contend with. Emily is happily living with Will and her son Freddie in their shop, but with the recession times are tough and Emily isn't sure the shop can survive, never mind her relationship with Will.

Sandie is now running her own Secret Shopping business and living with boyfriend Tom but there's something nagging Sandie in the back of her mind and soon that something is about to become crystal clear.

Finally, widow Grazia has decided its time to move on with her life and to get herself a man but is convinced her age is holding her back. With the season of goodwill and joy upon them, will the 3 women get their happy endings?

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Book Review: The Popularity Rules by Abby McDonald

Kat Elliot isn't exactly what you'd call popular. She works for a music magazine doing what she loves, and is pretty happy. But all that is set to change when she bumps into her ex-best friend from school, Lauren.

The pair's friendship ended when Lauren returned from summer camp a changed girl, determined to be beautigul and popular, leaving Kat sad in her wake. Years have passed but Kat still feels the rejection. When Lauren tells Kat she wants to teach her "The Popularity Rules", Kat is unsure and nervous.

But the glitz of parties and the chance to win her dream job comes calling, Kat just can't turn it down. But what are the Popularity Rules? And is Kat sure that popularity is exactly what she wants?

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Book Review: The Stepmothers Support Group by Sam Baker

Eve has never imagined herself as a Step-mother, but that's exactly what she becomes when she falls in love with widow Ian. He comes complete with 3 children, and it's Eve's worst nightmare... not to mention the fact that the ghost of his wife is hanging over Eve's every move. Her best friend Clare is having problems of her own with her teenage daughter Lou, but she still wants to be there for Clare. Lily is Clare's younger sister and also in love with someone who has a child, but Lily isn't too afraid of being a step-mother. The 3 women need each other and decide to set up The Step-Mothers Support Group, and recruit a few other mothers for coffee, chat and friendship.  But when things all come crashing down around them, can the step-mothers overcome the past as well as their uncertain futures?

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Author Interview: Claire Allan

Irish author Claire Allan recently caught my eye when I read her second book, Feels Like Maybe. I loved it, and was excited to see that Claire has another book out this month, Jumping In Puddles. Claire was nice enough to grant us an author interview and we chatted about her experience of motherhood, where she gets her ideas and her new book too! Read on...

1. Tell us about your latest book in a sentence.
Feels Like Maybe is all about friendship, babies, infertility, sexy gardeners and feckwit exes.

2. In 'Feels Like Maybe', you approach the journey of motherhood from two very different viewpoints. How much did you draw on your own personal experience to write these storylines and characters?
Aoife's birth scene was scarily like my own first time around - although I did have my husband standing beside me.
I think experiences of motherhood, especially in those early days are universal in a lot of respects. You feel sore, exhausted, paranoid about your appearance and yet a little blissed out by your knew baby. With Beth's story I spoke to several woman who had experienced or were experiencing fertility problems to make sure I set the tone just right. My first book 'Rainy Days and Tuesdays' examines post natal depression - and I did use my own experience to write that.
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Book Review: The Runaway Wife by Susy McPhee

Marion Bishop feels like her life has fallen apart around her. Her 9 year old daughter Hope was killed in a hit and run accident, and the police have never found who did it. Marion's also managed to push away her husband Sam, the only person she has left in the world, and now feels in the depths of despair.

Marion is ready to give it all up, and on the way to the chemist on the night she decides to end it all, she bumps into someone... someone that is going to change her life as she knows it. Marion begins to wonder whether she really does want to end everything, and has to rethink.

But is she going to be able to get over Hope's death, and will she ever win Sam back?

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Book Review: The Secret Shopper's Revenge by Kate Harrison

3 women - each hell-bent on revenge against the shopping industry. Emily is a single mum who has been dumped by her husband and is stuck in London with baby Freddie, and trying to upkeep her lifestyle with a tiny budget. She's struggling so when a mystery shopping job opportunity arises, she grabs it with both hands.

Sandie was a Store Manager of a huge department store but when things go terribly for her and she's sacked, she feels lost and abandoned by the industry that she's given her life to, and decides to join Shopping Angels to try to trip up her bosses.

Finally, the leader of the pack is Grazia, an Italian widow who has her own financial worries courtesy of her deceased artist husband. She sees something in the two young women that she likes and employs them as Shopping Angels - will the Angels get their revenge on the shopping world, or is it one mission too far?

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Book Review: Other People's Husbands by Judy Astley

Sara Blythe-Hamilton has been married to her much older husband Conrad for many years now, and the pair have settled into a happy life together. Their daughters are now grown up, one a mother herself, and Sara is loving being an art teacher again. But Conrad starts to worry Sara when he begins to start talking about the end of his life and stopping his beloved painting. Sara doesn't know what to make of it, so when hunky Ben starts to show an interest in her at the art school, Sara allows herself to reciprocate the attraction, and feels rather guilty about it too. What is Conrad really planning, and is Sara going to give into her desires for Ben?

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Book Review: An Offer You Can't Refuse by Jill Mansell

An Offer You Can't Refuse tells us the story of Lola Malone. At the start of the book, Lola is a 17 year old girl in love with her boyfriend Dougie. But when Dougie's mother offers her £10,000 to break up with her son, Lola takes the money and leaves Dougie well alone.

But she gets a shock ten years later when the Malone's come back into her life and she finds out how much she missed Dougie. However, is he going to find out Lola took money for breaking up with him? And will Lola be able to win back Dougie with the help of his sister Sally and best mate Gabe?

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Book Review: Sapphire by Katie Price

Sapphire Jones runs a successful hen weekends business, but ironically she's pretty unlucky in love herself. She's already had 1 failed marriage, and her latest fling with Jay seems to be getting too serious for Sapphire's liking.

Things start to look up for Sapphire when she gets to host a celebrity hen-night but an unwelcome face makes a return, and ends up introducing Sapphire to some unsavoury people she can't seem to get rid of.

Add that to the fact that things aren't going well with Jay, her friendships with Jazz and Sam her best mates are waning and her mum is having some serious problems too. How is Sapphire going to solve all her problems, and has she let love slip away when she least wanted it to?

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Book Review: Sisters in Law by Nina Bell

Kate, Heather and Olivia are sisters-in-law and are all hiding something from the Fox family. The family have big expectations and the 3 women sometimes struggle to keep up with them. When the mysterious Sasha enters their lives one mealtime, all 3 women are immediately suspicious.

Kate wonders why her partner Johnny has started working long hours at the office without a worry about their 2 children, can army wife Heather trust her husband Jack when he is home from duty, and is Olivia able to keep Simon's secret forever, or will it spell the end for one Fox marriage?

Will Sasha will be able to penetrate the Fox family, and if so, which Fox husband is about to play with fire?

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