Rating:
9/10
9/10
Showing posts with label katie fforde. Show all posts
Showing posts with label katie fforde. Show all posts
16 December 2016
Review: 'Candlelight at Christmas' by Katie Fforde (2016)
25 December 2015
Review: 'A Christmas in Disguise' by Katie Fforde (2015)
Rating:9,5/10
9,5/10
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.
12 June 2014
Weekly Feature - Once Upon a Story...
'Once Upon a Story' is a weekly feature in which we go back in time and focus on a specific novel that was released in the same month we're in right now (in this case May), but a few years back! It can be a women's fiction classic from the 1990's or perhaps a great chick lit read from 2011. I thought it would be nice to not just focus on recent releases, but also take the chance to jump back in time once a week and look back at wonderful reads that have been released over the years!
Sophie Apperly has spent her whole life pleasing others - but when she realises her family see her less as indispensable treasure and more as general dogsbody, she decides she's had enough.So when an old friend offers her the chance of a lifetime, she decides to swap Little England for the Big Apple, and heads off to the land of opportunity.
From the moment Sophie hits the bright lights of Manhattan she's determined to enjoy every minute of her big adventure.And when fate throws her together with Matilda, a spirited grande dame of New York society who invites her to Connecticut for Thanksgiving, she willingly accepts.English-born Matilda is delighted with her new friend - though her grandson Luke, undeniably attractive but infuriatingly arrogant, is anything but welcoming.
When Luke arrives in England a few weeks later, Sophie hardly expects him to seek her out.But Matilda has hatched some complicated plans of her own - and so Luke has a proposal to make...
Katie Fforde is without a doubt an author many of you will know really well or you will at least have spotted some of her novels in book stores, because she has been around within the world of women's fiction for quite a few years now. She has written more than 20 novels and today I decided to travel back to June 2010 to take a look at 'A Perfect Proposal.' I have to admit I haven't read the book myself (yet, it's still lying on my to-read shelf at home), but as soon as I read the blurb I had a feeling I'd love it. Sophie goes to the USA for a big adventure where she meets Matilda and her grandson Luke. I already love the plotline; nothing like a heroine travelling to another country to find herself and perhaps a bit of romance as well... I look forward to picking up this novel myself and can definitely recommend any Katie Fforde book to any chick lit/women's fiction fan!
27 February 2014
March 2014 releases!
The month of March has already arrived, which means Spring is getting closer! I'm already hearing birds singing the occasional song when I'm making my way to work every morning and the sun is showing its lovely bright face more and more... Hopefully, March will have some lovely Spring days in store for us, but if not, no worries, because there will be plenty of fabulous book releases to keep you occupied, whether that means sitting inside with a comfy blanket on the couch or perhaps outside with the first rays of Spring sunshine on your face!
Amy Hatvany - 'Safe With Me' (4th of March)
The screech of tires brought Hannah Scott’s world as she knew it to a devastating end. Even a year after she signed the papers to donate her daughter’s organs, Hannah is still reeling with grief when she unexpectedly stumbles into the life of the Bell family, whose child, Maddie, survived only because hers had died. Mesmerized by this fragile connection to her own daughter and afraid to reveal who she actually is, Hannah develops a surprising friendship with Maddie’s mother, Olivia.
The Bells, however, have problems of their own. Once on the verge of leaving her wealthy but abusive husband, Olivia now finds herself bound to him as never before in the wake of the successful transplant that saved their fifteen-year-old daughter’s life. Meanwhile Maddie, tired of the limits her poor health puts upon her and fearful of her father’s increasing rage, regularly escapes into the one place where she can be anyone she wants: the Internet. But when she is finally healthy enough to return to school, the real world proves to be just as complicated as the isolated bubble she had been so eager to escape.
The screech of tires brought Hannah Scott’s world as she knew it to a devastating end. Even a year after she signed the papers to donate her daughter’s organs, Hannah is still reeling with grief when she unexpectedly stumbles into the life of the Bell family, whose child, Maddie, survived only because hers had died. Mesmerized by this fragile connection to her own daughter and afraid to reveal who she actually is, Hannah develops a surprising friendship with Maddie’s mother, Olivia.
The Bells, however, have problems of their own. Once on the verge of leaving her wealthy but abusive husband, Olivia now finds herself bound to him as never before in the wake of the successful transplant that saved their fifteen-year-old daughter’s life. Meanwhile Maddie, tired of the limits her poor health puts upon her and fearful of her father’s increasing rage, regularly escapes into the one place where she can be anyone she wants: the Internet. But when she is finally healthy enough to return to school, the real world proves to be just as complicated as the isolated bubble she had been so eager to escape.
Jane Linfoot - 'The Right Side of Mr. Wrong' (6th of March)
One-off, moving on sex, wasn’t meant to be this hot…
When determined singleton Shea Summers is persuaded to become the “wife” of the Lord of Edgerton Manor, the last thing she wants to do is play house with a stranger.
Brooding playboy Brando Marshall is far from happy when Shea turns up at his sprawling estate with production crew in tow. Surely she’s just another woman after his wallet? And if she’s looking for Mr Right, she’s definitely hitting on the wrong guy. Then again, after catching an unscheduled glimpse of her knickers, perhaps Brando needs to teach this “gold-digger” a lesson!
She’s seizing the moment, he’s breaking the rules, and when bad boys can be so much fun, who can resist getting on the right side of Mr. Wrong…
Zoe Miller - 'A Husband's Confession' (6th of March)
Some marriages work out to plan; others are torn to shreds...
When Ali met Max in the summer of 1990, he turned her empty life around and filled it with love. Now, years on, Ali's greatest fear is that their happiness and hard-won success might be taken away. But just as Max's star is rising, unsettling incidents at their artisan bakery in Dublin's creative quarter threaten to damage its reputation and their dream.
Finn and Jo were running away from heartache when they met in Australia over twenty years ago. They married on a beach after a whirlwind romance and came back to Ireland to start afresh. But now Finn is in shock after the demise of his gritty role in a popular television crime drama, and Jo fears for him and their marriage.
When an accident one Saturday night has devastating consequences for both families, both Jo and Ali find out that there is no going back to the sparkle and excitement of those early years, and the future depends on the strength of their love and courage.
When Ali met Max in the summer of 1990, he turned her empty life around and filled it with love. Now, years on, Ali's greatest fear is that their happiness and hard-won success might be taken away. But just as Max's star is rising, unsettling incidents at their artisan bakery in Dublin's creative quarter threaten to damage its reputation and their dream.
Finn and Jo were running away from heartache when they met in Australia over twenty years ago. They married on a beach after a whirlwind romance and came back to Ireland to start afresh. But now Finn is in shock after the demise of his gritty role in a popular television crime drama, and Jo fears for him and their marriage.
When an accident one Saturday night has devastating consequences for both families, both Jo and Ali find out that there is no going back to the sparkle and excitement of those early years, and the future depends on the strength of their love and courage.
Katie Fforde - 'The Perfect Match' (13th of March)
Three years ago Bella Castle left her home town nursing a broken heart over Dominic Thane, the man she fell in love with but couldn't have .
Now she's made a new life for herself in the country, working as an estate agent.
Bella loves her job and she loves her boyfriend Nevil. But recently he's been preoccupied, and she's starting to question if his future hopes and dreams are a perfect match for hers.
And when Dominic turns up unexpectedly in search of his dream house, she begins to wonder if home is really where the heart is. But she's over him, isn't she?
Now she's made a new life for herself in the country, working as an estate agent.
Bella loves her job and she loves her boyfriend Nevil. But recently he's been preoccupied, and she's starting to question if his future hopes and dreams are a perfect match for hers.
And when Dominic turns up unexpectedly in search of his dream house, she begins to wonder if home is really where the heart is. But she's over him, isn't she?
Claire Dyer - 'The Perfect Affair' (13th of March)
What happens if you fall in love with the wrong person?
Rose knows only too well the exhilaration and devastation of loving a married man. So she watches with a keen eye as Eve - her closest companion, the granddaughter she never had - meets Myles, the new tenant in her downstairs flat.
Quietly and softly and against the backdrop of their own unsatisfactory marriages, Myles and Eve fall in love and, as they try to have the perfect affair like Rose did before them, they come to learn about the pain of lost opportunities, to decide whether it is ever better to follow your head or your heart, to know what it is to be torn between love and duty.
Nic Tatano - 'The Adventures of Jillian Spectre' (13th of March)
Welcome to the Mystic Quarter...
Jillian Spectre knows what happens after you die.
Because the seventeen-year-old mystic seer can see the future of her clients even after they've passed on. And that's not even her coolest power...
She can be in two places at once. Problem is, her heart can only be in one.
Supernatural abilities aside, she's a typical high school senior torn between two guys. But that gets put on the back burner when she discovers the father she had long assumed was dead is actually alive, with unique powers of his own. He's a technopath, with the ability to interface his mind with technology. And he's got a plan to take down society.
Unless Jillian can stop him.
Jillian Spectre knows what happens after you die.
Because the seventeen-year-old mystic seer can see the future of her clients even after they've passed on. And that's not even her coolest power...
She can be in two places at once. Problem is, her heart can only be in one.
Supernatural abilities aside, she's a typical high school senior torn between two guys. But that gets put on the back burner when she discovers the father she had long assumed was dead is actually alive, with unique powers of his own. He's a technopath, with the ability to interface his mind with technology. And he's got a plan to take down society.
Unless Jillian can stop him.
Polly Waterford is recovering from a toxic relationship. Unable to afford their townhouse, she has to move miles away from everyone, to the sleepy little seaside resort of Polbearne, where she lives alone above an abandoned shop.
And so Polly takes out her frustrations on her favourite hobby: making bread. But what was previously a weekend diversion suddenly becomes far more important as she pours her emotions into kneading and pounding the dough, and each loaf becomes better and better. With nuts and seeds, olives and chorizo, with local honey (courtesy of local bee keeper, Huckle), and with reserves of determination and creativity Polly never knew she had, she bakes and bakes and bakes . . . And people start to hear about it.
Sometimes, bread really is life . . . And Polly is about to reclaim hers.
Three blind dates
Two teenage boys messing up her plans
And one man who'll melt Alice's heart.
'You need to get back in the saddle…' Alice despises that phrase. She's fine being single – with two slothful teenage boys and a meringue business to run, she has enough on her plate without negotiating the troublesome world of modern dating.
However, Alice's three best friends have other ideas. Each one will present her with an utterly delicious, eligible man – all Alice has to do is pick her favourite.
At forty-six, Sadie Fuller's life isn't exactly romantic. A divorced, overweight, somewhat sexually frustrated mother of an eleven-year-old, she lives in the suburbs, shops the big box stores, makes small talk with her small-minded neighbors, and generally leads a quiet life. But while her daughter is at school, or when Sadie is up late at night, she writes erotic fiction under the name KT Briggs.
Then, during a routine shopping trip, Sadie runs into someone familiar...too familiar, in fact. She encounters an incredibly handsome man exactly like the one in her imagination--and her latest novel. Is Aidan Hathaway really one of her characters? And if so, what is he doing in Target? As Sadie tries to negotiate this strange new world, her eyes begin to open to romantic possibilities in places she never dreamed of looking...places where Happily Ever After might not be so far-fetched after all.
Twenty-nine-year-old Sophie Diehl is happy toiling away as a criminal law associate at an old line New England firm where she very much appreciates that most of her clients are behind bars. Everyone at Traynor, Hand knows she abhors face-to-face contact, but one weekend, with all the big partners away, Sophie must handle the intake interview for the daughter of the firm’s most important client. After eighteen years of marriage, Mayflower descendant Mia Meiklejohn Durkheim has just been served divorce papers in a humiliating scene at the popular local restaurant, Golightly’s. She is locked and loaded to fight her eminent and ambitious husband, Dr. Daniel Durkheim, Chief of the Department of Pediatric Oncology, for custody of their ten-year-old daughter Jane—and she also burns to take him down a peg. Sophie warns Mia that she’s never handled a divorce case before, but Mia can’t be put off. As she so disarmingly puts it: It’s her first divorce, too.
Jen has discovered a secret.
It's not hers to share, but is it hers to keep?
If she tells her husband Jason, he might get over the shock but will he forgive her for telling the truth? She might drive a wedge through their marriage.
If she tells someone else in Jason's family - the family she's come to love more than her own - she'd not only tear them apart but could also find herself on the outside: she's never really been one of them, after all.
But if she keeps this dirty little secret to herself, how long can she pretend nothing is wrong? How long can she live a lie?
Jen knows the truth - but is she ready for the consequences?
A childhood mistake. A lifetime of regrets.
Jenni is a ‘ghost’: she writes the lives of other people. It’s a job that suits her well: still haunted by a childhood tragedy, she finds it easier to take refuge in the memories of others rather than dwell on her own.
Jenni has an exciting new commission, and is delighted to start working on the memoirs of a Dutchwoman, Klara. As a child in the Second World War, Klara was interned in a camp on Java during the Japanese occupation – she has an extraordinary story of survival to tell.
But as Jenni and Klara begin to get to know each other, Jenni begins to do much more than shed light on a neglected part of history. She is being forced to examine her own devastating memories, too. But with Klara’s help, perhaps this is finally the moment where she will be able to lay the ghosts of her own past to rest?
Lexi and her husband Sam have put their heart and soul into renovating No. 3 Cashel Square. Lexi's mother thinks it's high time they had a baby, but Lexi's thriving art gallery keeps her more than busy. Plus her headstrong niece Amelie seems to have practically moved in. And then, just as summer arrives, a mysterious stranger knocks on the door. Kathleen Williams has come from America, longing to see the house in Cashel Square where she was born, over sixty years ago. Kathleen's visit is tinged with sadness but she finds comfort and laughter with Lexie and Amelie. Soon the three women are sharing their hearts, tears and secrets, little knowing their unexpected friendship will touch them all in more ways than they can imagine...
Three best friends. One five-star hotel. Will it be the holiday of a lifetime ...?
Imogen and her friends Meredith and Nicola have had their fill of budget holidays, cattle-class flights and 6 a.m. offensives for a space by the pool. So when Meredith wins a VIP holiday at Barcelona's hippest new hotel, they plan to sip champagne with the jet set, party with the glitterati and switch off in unapologetic luxury. But when the worst crisis of her working life erupts back home, Imogen has to juggle her BlackBerry with a Manhattan, while soothing a hysterical boss and hunting down an AWOL assistant.
Between a robbery, a run-in with hotel security staff and an encounter on a nudist beach that they'd all rather forget, the friends stumble from one disaster to the next. At least Imogen has a distraction in the form of the gorgeous guy who's always in the right place at the very worst time. Until, that is, his motives start to arouse a few suspicions ...
Good brides promise to obey. Bad brides wouldn't dream of it…
Milly Gamble is an up-and-coming actress, and the perfect English flower child. At 23, she's always been cast as the innocent heroine. But looks can deceive. Calculating and fiercely ambitious, Milly is determined to be the most famous star in England. And how better to achieve her goal than by dating Tarquin Ormond, lead singer of the biggest folk band of the moment? Tarquin is madly in love with Milly; Milly is only in love with herself.
Brianna Jade is an all-American pageant girl. The daughter of Tamra Maloney, a stunning billionairess, Brianna is a sweet, pretty girl who is more than happy to go along with her mother's ambitious plans for her. Now Tamra's brought her to the UK and hooked her up with an Earl. He has a crumbling stately home and needs a rich wife to help restore it to its former glory. Tamra is as ambitious and determined as Brianna is sweet and innocent - is this more a case of mother-in-law-zilla than bridezilla?
Both Milly and Brianna's upcoming weddings will be huge, lavish events that garner national press. But with the cover of the biggest magazine in the country to be won, things are about to get very dirty…
One family, two sisters, a lifetime of secrets . . .
The third child in a family that wanted only two, Muriel Sullivant has always been an outsider. Short, dark-haired and round, she worships her beautiful blonde sister, Pia, and envies the close bond she shares with their mother, Lidia. Growing up in their shadow, Muriel believes that if she keeps all their secrets—and she knows plenty, outsiders always do—they will love her, too.
But that was a long time ago. Now an adult, Muriel has accepted the disappointments in her life. With her fourth-floor walk-up apartment and entry-level New York City job, she never will measure up to Pia and her wealthy husband, their daughter, and their suburban Connecticut dream home. Muriel would like nothing better than to avoid her judgmental family altogether. One thing she does quite well.
Until the day Pia shows up to visit and share devastating news that Muriel knows she cannot tell—a secret that will force her to come to terms with the past and help her see her life and her family in unexpected new ways.
The deeper the water, the darker the secrets
There were so many times I thought about telling you the truth, Eva. What stopped me was always the same thing…
When Eva’s husband Jackson tragically drowns, she longs to meet his estranged family. The journey takes her to Jackson’s brother’s doorstep on a remote Tasmanian island. As strange details about her husband’s past begin to emerge, memories of the man she married start slipping through her fingers like sand, as everything she ever knew and loved about him is thrown into question. Now she’s no longer sure whether it was Jackson she fell in love with – or someone else entirely…
The truth is, it was all a lie ...
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