Book Review: To Marry A Prince by Sophie Page

Bella Greenwood is just a normal girl returning from her travels when she is hauled along with her best friend Charlotte to a rather well-to-do party. She manages to get herself into a somewhat embarrassing situation, but is rescued by a tall, dark and handsome stranger. All is fine, until Bella realises that her knight in shining armour is none other than Prince Richard, son of the King and Queen and heir to the throne of Britain. Bella is mortified but can't stop her feelings towards him. Soon the pair are madly in love, and Bella begins to think a Royal Wedding might be on the cards. But is she right in thinking that a Prince can fall in love with her, and do fairytales romances ever have a happy ending?

Sophie Page is the pen-name of RNA author Jenny Haddon, and it is the first book she has published under this name. To be honest, when I first saw the cover of this book, I wasn't instantly enamoured with it,  I thought it looked a bit old-fashioned and not something that would interest me, but luckily the plot totally sold it to me more than anything else. It is obviously based on the upcoming Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, and is the second such book based on it to be released recently! I was really excited to give it a go, and so eagerly began to read.

Read more »

Book Review: A Surprise Party by Sue Welfare

Liz and Suzie really wanted their parents 40th Wedding Anniversary Party to be something that Rose and Jack would never forget, and boy did it turn out to be that. Liz, TV Golden's Girl after hosting hit show "Starmaker" has left all the hard graft to her sister, much to Suzie's resentment. She's fine with the fact she's stumped up the money and has therefore done her bit but Suzie is fed up of doing everything herself, with the help of husband Sam. Their daughters Megan and Hannah seem to be going a bit awry as well, so that just adds to Suzie's worry. As the party kicks off, huge secrets are suddenly revealed which threaten to thrown Liz and Suzie's very existence into question, and makes them worry about the foundation of everything they have ever known. Will the family ever be able to get past this, and was the surprise party the worst idea ever... will there be a family left to speak of as the champagne stops flowing?

I have to be honest and say that initially I was not attracted to picking up this book at all, and it would happily have sat on my shelf had I not picked it up and flicked through the first few pages and really enjoyed them. The cover is a tad bland for my liking and I think it certainly makes the book like it is aimed at an older audience than me (early 20's) which is a shame because the story within can appeal across the generations but perhaps might be held up by its cover. I have never read anything by Sue Welfare, who also writes under the names Kate Lawson and Gemma Fox, so I was curious to see what her book would be like and hoped for the best!
Read more »

Book Review: An Ideal Wife by Gemma Townley

Jessica Wild-Wainwright is happy at last. She seems settled, married to her gorgeous husband Max who seems to love her more than ever and has a great job in Advertising that she actually enjoys and is good at. However, Jessica is still hiding a secret from Max about her money and her ex-friend Hugh, and she's determined to make sure Max never finds out about it, so sets about becoming the Ideal Wife. She sets herself targets to complete from learning to cook to volunteering at the homeless shelter once a week, but as with Jess, nothing is ever easy. Not to mention the odd trunk that Ivanka is wanting her to urgently hide, and the annoying audit at work which seems to come at the worst time for Jessica and Max. Will she be able to become the Ideal Wife or are her secrets going to get in the way of her secret mission?!

This is Gemma Townley's third novel in her Jessica Wild series, and having loved the first two novels, I was really excited to read this one. I love that the covers all match, all follow suit with their blank faced characters and bold use of colour, and certainly look good together on a shelf. This one is styled in blue, and at just over 250 pages, isn't a long book at all, but that didn't bother me too much as I find long books can drag on and bore me a bit.  It has been a while since the release of the last book, but I was sure it wouldn't matter too much and that I would be able to slip back in with these characters fairly easily as I seem to with other series' that I read in the genre.

Read more »

Author Interview: Claire Irvin

Debut author Claire Irvin, author of the brilliant new novel Cougars, has kindly agreed to an author interview with us, and we were really excited to ask Claire lots of our burning questions about her and her new book, so with thanks to Claire and Hannah at Little, Brown, enjoy the interview with the lovely Claire Irvin!

Q1. Tell us about your book "Cougars" in one sentence!

Cougars is the sexy, sassy and sophisticated story of one woman’s journey of self-discovery – a glamorous, zeitgeisty tale that will resonate with every reader’s life, whoever she is and whatever she does…

Q2. The subject of cougars seems to be quite popular these days, even creating aTV show starring Courtney Cox. How much notice did you take of shows such as this, and other celebrity news about cougars when writing the book?

As Editor of SHE it’s my job to channel the zeitgeist and pick up on social trends, and celebrities’ lives – even though they are so much more extreme than my life or the lives of my friends – are often a good way to spot them. With cougars, it wasn’t so much that women weren’t already dating younger men, but that society was about to accept it as normal rather than something a little out of the ordinary. So when Demi, Madonna and Sam started proudly showing off their younger beaus it was a sure sign that the women I know were about to start doing the same. And yes, I do watch Cougar Town – I love the self-deprecating humour and the way Courtney Cox’s character, like so many women, is at the hub of her own busy, crazy, kooky world – but I watch it for enjoyment only!

Read more »

Book Review: That Gallagher Girl by Kate Thompson

Cat Gallagher is about to liven up the town of Lissamore. She's a bit of a free spirit - she doesn't get along with her famous artist father who is rather partial to a lot of drink, and hates her wicked stepmother with a passion. She finds herself homeless and starts squatting in various empty homes. One of those empty homes happens to belong to some dear to Lissamore resident Rio Kinsella's heart - her son Finn's Hollywood heart-throb father Shane. Rio finds herself in a shocking personal situation when a dear friend  becomes ill, and does something born out of a desperation to keep them happy, despite the knock on effect it has on everyone around her, including her son Finn and his new friend Cat Gallagher. Will Rio and Cat be able to sort out of the messes that are their lives, and finally settle down to be happy once and for all?

This book is the third book in Kate Thompson's Lissamore series, following The Kinsella Sisters and The O'Hara Affair and I have read the whole series so far, so I was very much looking forward to reading this. I loved the cover the moment I saw it, it looks very fresh and summery, and certainly suits the book quite well. It is a large paperback style, which isn't my preferred type of book as I find them a bit big for my little hands, but either way I sat down one evening and got ready to give it a read.
Read more »

Book Review: New Beginnings by Fern Britton

Christie Lynch hasn't had it easy. Her husband Nick suddenly died, and Christie has been left bringing up their two children on her own, as well as the debts her husband left her with and the big house that needs a lot of work doing to it. So when Christie is offered the chance to appear on hit TV show "Tart Talk", she takes it and quickly becomes a huge success. She then finds herself given the job of replacing the queen of Daytime TV Gilly when she goes on maternity leave, although not without a fight. Christie soon finds herself struggling with the confines of fame, especially with her children Libby and Fred finding it hard too, never mind the fact Christie is finding herself becoming attracted to single neighbour Richard. Will Christie be able to juggle her responsibilities at work and at home, as well as find out what her agent Julia Keen is up to AND make everyone happy all at the same time? Will it a new beginning or a bad ending for Christie?

Fern Britton is of course best known as a TV presenter on shows such as This Morning, but now she has turned her hand to writing books as well as her TV career. Reception to celebrity written books has been quite mixed from the awful (Penny Smith) to the pretty good (Coleen Nolan, Sharon Osbourne) so I wasn't sure exactly which camp Fern's book was going to slot into. I do like Fern on telly, she is quite easy to relate to so I hoped that would come across in her book, and be an easy read for anyone who picks it up. I wasn't overly inspired by the cover, it looks quite generic and doesn't stand out as anything new at all which was a shame, as I felt they could have done something quite different with this.

Read more »

Book Review: RSVP by Helen Warner

Anna has never really gotten over her broken relationship with Toby, so when she receives an invitation to the wedding of Toby and wife-to-be Rachel, she is devastated and convinced her life is over. Her best friend Clare is on hand to help Anna snap out of her maudlin state of mind, and convinces Anna that it would be closure for her to attend the wedding. However, neither woman counts on their nemesis Ella de Bourg being present - after all Ella was the one who ruined everything between Toby and Anna. Anna's miserable, Rachel is nervous and unsure she's doing the right thing, Toby loves Rachel but is sure he loves someone else too, and Clare just wants someone to love. Is happiness for all of them too much to ask, or will the wedding bring out a few truths that will shatter their worlds forever?


I love reading debut novels - there is something about having no expectations or pre-conceived thoughts about an author when you pick up a book, and a debut novel is usually one that can deliver both of these things for me. This is Helen Warner's first outing into the chick lit world, and a corker of one it is too. From it's bold and beautiful turquoise cover to the riveting time-hopping story within, everything about RSVP draws you in and keeps you wanting to read until you've turned the last page and are then disappointed when it's over. That's the kind of debut I love, and that is what Helen Warner delivered here for me!

Read more »