Blog Tour: 'Ivy Lane' by Cathy Bramley

Tilly Parker needs a fresh start, fresh air and a fresh attitude if she is ever to leave the past behind and move on with her life. As she seeks out peace and quiet in a new town, taking on a plot at Ivy Lane allotments seems like the perfect solution.
But the friendly Ivy Lane community has other ideas and gradually draw Tilly in to their cosy, comforting world of planting seedlings, organizing bake sales and planning seasonal parties.
As the seasons pass, will Tilly learn to stop hiding amongst the sweetpeas and let people back into her life – and her heart?
I'm really honoured and excited to be part of the blog tour for Cathy Bramley's amazing novel 'Ivy Lane' today! The book was first released by Transworld Digital in separate e-book instalments in 2014, divided into four parts fitting the four seasons of the year: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. On the 26th of February, the paperback version of the novel was released, which has a simply gorgeous cover, if you ask me! Before I read 'Ivy Lane' I was already familiar with Cathy Bramley's work, since I was asked to review her novel 'Conditional Love' last year (click here to read my review). I really enjoyed it, so I couldn't wait to check out the entire story of 'Ivy Lane'!
Thirty-year-old Tilly Parker has been through a lot and she is ready to start anew and try to leave the past behind. She has moved to a new town where she hopes to build up a new peaceful life for herself, and in order to give her something to stay busy with she has got herself her own plot at Ivy Lane allotments. However, after her first few visits to her new plot, Tilly quickly finds out the Ivy Lane community wants nothing more than to welcome her with open arms and let her become a part of their group. Question is, is Tilly really ready to step away from the past and focus on the here and now? 
Luckily the story inside this novel fits the absolutely gorgeous cover; it’s amazing! I loved everything about ‘Ivy Lane’ and I honestly couldn’t get enough of the characters and everything they go through together. The main protagonist Tilly is incredibly easy to like so it didn’t take long for me to warm to her and to start rooting for her. It’s obvious from the start Tilly is running away from something that has happened in her past and she needs to start afresh. I loved joining Tilly on this journey and seeing her develop as a character from start to finish. Next to Tilly, there is a great collection of colourful characters, each with a different personality, ranging from all ages, who all come together at Ivy Lane allotments. I fell in love with quirky and outspoken Gemma, who owns the plot next to Tilly’s; handsome fire-fighter Charlie, and cute and friendly Alf. 
The author’s writing style is so warm, engaging and easy to read. I went through all kinds of emotions while reading this story, from laughing out loud to frustration to sadness (I even had tears in my eyes a few times which doesn’t happen that easily to me while reading!). Even though I’m not the gardening type myself, I fell in love with the idea of an allotment and the way it brings people together. I also loved the different seasons and how this was reflected in the allotments and the different events taking place, such as Halloween, Christmas, bake sales in the sun. ‘Ivy Lane’ is an incredibly warm, uplifting, charming read about friendship, family, and not giving up on life, even when the times get rough. Cathy Bramley is an author to watch and ‘Ivy Lane’ is a read you do not want to miss!

Rating:10/10

  For more information about this book: Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: 'Longbourn' by Jo Baker (2013)

Pride and Prejudice was only half the story...

If Elizabeth Bennet had the washing of her own petticoats, Sarah often thought, she’d most likely be a sight more careful with them.

In this irresistibly imagined belowstairs answer to Pride and Prejudice, the servants take center stage. Sarah, the orphaned housemaid, spends her days scrubbing the laundry, polishing the floors, and emptying the chamber pots for the Bennet household. But there is just as much romance, heartbreak, and intrigue downstairs at Longbourn as there is upstairs. When a mysterious new footman arrives, the orderly realm of the servants’ hall threatens to be completely, perhaps irrevocably, upended.

The year 2013 marks the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s famous classic love story ‘Pride and Prejudice.’ The publication of Jo Baker’s novel ‘Longbourn’ was specially timed for this occasion, and as a Jane Austen fan I had been looking forward to this book for quite some time. When some of the first reviews started popping up online, I was contacted by the lovely Alison Barrow with the question if I was interested in a review copy of ‘Longbourn.’ Obviously, I was over the moon and I couldn’t wait to start reading to see what Jo Baker had decided to do with one of my favourite love stories of all time.

The Longbourn estate automatically reminds us of the Bennet family in Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’, but in this novel we get to take a trip downstairs, to find out the stories behind the servants working at Longbourn. There’s Sarah, a hard-working young woman who has been part of the Longbourn household since she was a little girl; Mr. and Mrs. Hill, young Polly and the new footman, James. It’s not entirely clear where James has come from, and Sarah isn’t sure what to think of him. However, she unexpectedly starts to develop feelings for him and suddenly all kinds of things start happening downstairs, which the Bennet family have no idea of…

With this novel, Jo Baker has managed to add a complete new mix of engaging and fascinating characters to ‘Pride and Prejudice’. I love the fact that with this book the reader gets a chance to find out about the things going on below the stairs of the Bennet estate. There are hidden secrets, traces of love and deceit, longing and wishes… Just like any other family, which is what this group of servants really feels like: a family. Jo Baker manages to capture and explain the emotions of these characters perfectly, which is something I really enjoyed. I am also glad the author did not decide to imitate Austen’s writing style; this is a modern novel, and a story on itself. I’d recommend readers to first read ‘Pride and Prejudice’, just because it makes the reading experience a touch more special, but you can also read this novel without any prior knowledge of Austen’s tale.

When I started reading ‘Longbourn’, I felt myself waiting for scenes in which Elizabeth, Jane, or Darcy would make an appearance. However, after reading about 50 pages I was so engrossed in Sarah’s story, I completely forgot about the original ‘Pride and Prejudice’ characters. It was actually quite refreshing to see a different (slightly clueless and ignorant) side of them. I don’t think every Austen fan will be able to appreciate this novel, because Jo Baker has really given it her own twist and added some quite controversial details. However, I personally really enjoyed this opportunity to look at ‘Pride and Prejudice’ from a completely different and fascinating perspective, and I expect that every time I’ll read ‘Pride and Prejudice’ in the future I will think of the servants standing in the shadows of almost every single scene. ‘Longbourn’ is an engaging and original novel that provides readers with a fascinating look into the downstairs world of Austen’s most famous tale, and one that once again proves that there are always two sides to every story.

Rating:8/10

Review: 'Party Games' by Jo Carnegie (2013)

Although the countryside town of Beeversham looks picture-perfect, nothing is quite as it seems. Behind closed doors, three women are struggling to lead the lives they want.

Vanessa seems like she simply must have it all - she's beautiful, rich and married to gorgeous actor, Conrad. But beneath the glitz, she is asking herself whether this really is the life she wants to lead - when she has so much, why does she feel so empty?

Meanwhile, Fleur is trying desperately to save the farm that her family have lived on for hundreds of years, when playboy Beau makes her an offer she can't refuse.

And Catherine has given up the high-flying career she thought she always wanted, and is trying to build a wonderful new life in the country. But finding rural bliss is harder than it looks.

Hopes and dreams, loves and losses - and lots and lots of secrets - let Jo Carnegie take you behind the scenes of one very special town.

Since I first saw the cover of Jo Carnegie’s latest novel ‘Party Games’ and had read the blurb, I was secretly hoping I would be receiving a review copy, and thankfully, I did (thank you, Transworld!). I hadn’t read anything by Jo Carnegie before, but I really liked the sound of ‘Party Games’. A picture-perfect village, three female characters with their own stories to tell, hopes, dreams, secrets... I knew, without a doubt, that this would be an entertaining read!

The town of Beeversham is a small village in England where big things are about to happen. An anonymous building corporation has plans to knock down the town’s castle and build a large theme park instead, promising new jobs and more tourists. The inhabitants of Beeversham are against the plans, but how can they stop this enormous change from happening? At the centre of this, we have three female inhabitants of the small town: Vanessa, the UK’s favourite female celeb, who is stuck in an unhappy marriage until she meets the new hunky gardener Dan; Fleur, who is doing everything she can to save her family’s farm while trying to ignore heartthrob Beau’s romantic advances; and Catherine, who has given up her career as a successful magazine editor in order to start a family in the countryside, but when she can’t get pregnant she finds herself looking for something else to keep her occupied. Much is happening in the small town of Beeversham, but no one knows what enormous changes lie ahead...

Where do I start with this novel?! After about fifty pages, I already noticed a lot was going on. Different storylines, many characters... It really took me a bit of time to get into the story, but as soon as I did, I simply didn’t want to stop reading. The novel became kind of addictive, like a soap opera, with all the intrigue, lies, secrets, unexpected twists and turns. I loved the three female characters (Catherine, Vanessa, and Fleur) and their individual storylines. They were each really different characters that brought a fascinating story to the table, and I loved how the novel focused on them in turns, while using the main Beeversham tale as a red thread to which everything else was somehow linked.

‘Party Games’ can really be described as a soap opera on paper which is scandalously enjoyable and addictive. I really liked Jo Carnegie’s writing style; pleasant, quick, easy-to read. However, I did sometimes lose track of all the different characters and who was who and what their link to the other villagers was. I really loved Vanessa, Fleur and Catherine and the characters close to them, so I wouldn’t have minded if some of the smaller characters would have remained anonymous. Overall, ‘Party Games’ is an addictive, thoroughly enjoyable, scandalous and glamorous read you will not want to put down, and I personally can’t wait to pick up some of Jo Carnegie’s other novels.

Rating:8/10    

  

Review: 'Little Beauty' by Alison Jameson (2013)

A unforgettable story about one woman's struggle to do the best for her child.

1975: Laura Quinn has spent her life on the remote and beautiful Inis Miol Mor - Whale Island- off the west coast of Ireland. After the death of her parents, and faced with the continuing reluctance of her lover, Martin, to marry her, she realizes she needs to leave the island for her life really to begin.

She accepts a job as a housekeeper with a wealthy couple on the mainland. But a year later, Laura is back, and this time she is not alone. She has at last found the love of her life: a baby son named Matthew. But what sort of life can an unmarried mother have on a remote Irish island in the 1970s? In this complex situation is revealed a picture of a tightly knit community where Laura inevitably comes under pressure to conform to the rules of society.

I didn’t know anything about Alison Jameson or her 4^th of July release, ‘Little Beauty’, before I received a review copy of the novel in my mailbox (thanks Transworld!). The book has a stunning cover; I really like the design of it, the sea, the sand, the flowers, the little cloud hanging in the air with the author’s name in it. It’s also a cover that fits the tale inside perfectly. I didn’t really know what kind of novel to expect after reading just the blurb, but I was quickly taken in by Laura and her story.

Laura Quinn has always lived on the Irish island Inis Miol Mor, also known as Whale Island, where she is considered a bit of an outcast. This mainly has to do with the fact that her mother committed suicide and that their house was built facing the sea, which is considered bad luck. Laura feels as if nothing on the island is making her happy, including her uncertain relationship with lighthouse keeper Martin, so she decides to take on a job as a housekeeper on the mainland. A year later, Laura is back on the island and she has found the light in her life in the form of a son named Matthew. Yet, Laura is a single mother, which is not accepted by the other inhabitants of the island, and it doesn’t take long before she finds herself struggling to hold onto that one bit of happiness in her life.

‘Little Beauty’ is not your typical chick lit novel, and certainly not a light read. Laura is a slightly odd character, but I warmed to her as the novel progressed. I also liked Martin (even though I went from like to dislike in continuing waves throughout the story), and I fell in love with Audrey (the woman for whom Laura starts working as a housekeeper) when she was introduced to the story. I loved her description, her clothes, the way she danced around the kitchen... However, as the story continued, my feelings for Audrey changed. I don’t want to give too much away, but those of you who have read or will read ‘Little Beauty’ will understand what I am talking about. What happens to Laura is heartbreaking, and it really influenced the way I looked at the characters and the story as a whole.

Alison James has a really particular own way of writing, which I had to get used to at the beginning. At times, I thought the story was a bit long-winded, but at the same time the descriptions and emotions were really well-written and realistic. ‘Little Beauty’ is quite an intense read and definitely a story that will linger in your mind afterwards. If you are looking for something a tad heaver than your average chick lit, something emotional and original, then I’d certainly recommend picking up a copy of this novel. Even though it was a slightly different read, I enjoyed ‘Little Beauty’ and I have a feeling Laura Quinn’s tale will stay with me for quite some time to come!

Rating:7/10 

Review: 'In the Summertime' by Judy Astley (2013)

It's twenty years since Miranda, then sixteen, holidayed in Cornwall and her life changed forever. Now she's back again - with her mother Clare and the ashes of her stepfather Jack, whose wish was to be scattered on the sea overlooked by their one-time holiday home.

The picturesque cove seems just the same as ever, but the people are different - more smart incomers,fewer locals, more luxury yachts in the harbour. But Miranda and Clare both find some strangely familiar faces, and revisit the emotions they both thought had disappeared.

When I found a review copy of Judy Astley’s latest novel ‘In the Summertime’ in my mailbox (thanks to the amazing people at Transworld), I immediately started longing for my summer holidays a little bit more. The cover and blurb promise a perfect-for-a-day-on-the-beach holiday read, so I was looking forward to getting stuck in the story and imagining myself sitting on a sunny Cornwall beach!

When she was a 16-year-old girl, Miranda spent her summer holiday in Cornwall, where she experienced certain things that changed her life completely. She’s now a 36-year-old woman and going back to that exact same village in Cornwall to spend the summer. Main reason is her mother Clare, who has just lost her husband Jack, and wants to scatter his ashes on the sea near their beloved Cornish holiday home. Miranda’s teenage kids, Silva and Bo, have come along on the trip, and it doesn’t take long before Harriet, Miranda’s sister, joins them as well. Miranda soon realises that in contrast to what she initially expected, there are still lots of familiar faces walking around in Chapel Creek, including her former best friends Jess and Andrew, and her holiday crush Steve. It doesn’t take long before forgotten memories and emotions return, and it becomes clear this holiday has much in store for not just Miranda, but the rest of her family as well.

Miranda is such a likeable and warm character; I liked her from the first few pages of the novel. I enjoyed the fact that the story focused on different generations of one family. There’s Miranda in the middle (together with her sister Harriet, who is fleeing from her famous footballer boyfriend and the paparazzi); their mother Clare, who is trying to deal with the loss of her husband; and the kids, Silva and Bo, who are both dealing with their own teenage troubles of trying to fit in. Family takes on a central place in the story, and I loved the way Miranda tries to keep them all together. Next to this, the scene setting and the descriptions of Cornwall were fabulous, and they really gave me that summer feeling.    

After reading this novel, I found out it is actually a sequel to another novel by Judy Astley, ‘Just for the Summer.’ I had absolutely no idea about this when I started reading ‘In the Summertime’, but I never had the feeling as if I was missing bits of information. Astley has made sure everyone can read and enjoy this novel, and now I am actually looking forward to reading the prequel to see what the characters were like in their younger years! ‘In the Summertime’ is a lovely holiday read about a variety of characters, spread over three generations, which will warm your heart and make you long for sunshine and long days on the beach! 

Rating:7,5/10

Review: 'The Chocolate Money' by Ashley Prentice Norton (2013)

 

Set in 1980s Chicago and on the East Coast, this electric debut chronicles the relationship between an impossibly rich chocolate heiress, Babs Ballentyne, and her sensitive and bookish young daughter, Bettina. Babs plays by no one’s rules: naked Christmas cards, lavish theme parties with lewd installations at her Lake Shore Drive penthouse, nocturnal visits from her married lover, who “admires her centerfold” while his wife sleeps at their nearby home.

Bettina wants nothing more than to win her mother’s affection and approval, both of which prove elusive. When she escapes to an elite New Hampshire prep school, Bettina finds that her unorthodox upbringing makes it difficult to fit in with her peers, one of whom happens to be the son of Babs’s lover. As she struggles to forge an identity apart from her mother, Bettina walks a fine line between self-preservation and self-destruction.

From the moment I first saw the cover of ‘The Chocolate Money’ appearing on my Twitter timeline, the image has somehow been stuck in my mind. I don’t know what it is, because it’s not that I particularly love the cover image that much, but the title and the photo managed to capture my attention. So, when I received a review copy of the novel (thanks, Transworld!) in the mail, I was quite curious to start reading and discover what the story would be like.

‘The Chocolate Money’ tells the story of Bettina and her mother Tabitha Ballentyne, known as Babs. Babs is the heiress to a chocolate company fortune, which means she can buy and do practically everything she wants. Even though Bettina grows up in a world of luxury and glamour, she misses one important thing and that’s attention. Babs is not your average mother, which makes it tricky for Bettina to try and fit in with the other students at the elite prep school she is sent to. Bettina tries to find her own identity, but with her mother constantly loitering in the shadows of her mind, she finds herself struggling with some typical and some not-so-typical dilemma’s of growing up and becoming your own person.

Babs is probably the most horrible mother I’ve ever come across in the fictional world. She’s incredibly selfish, inappropriate, and has an excessive luxury lifestyle she seems to find more important than anything else. The story is told from Bettina’s perspective, beginning when she is just an 11-year-old girl until she has grown up and is a 26-year-old woman. Ashley Prentice Norton deals with the various rather controversial topics the novel tackles (such as child neglect, underage drinking, all kinds of sexual acts) with a dark, sarcastic sense of humour. Apparently there are traces of her own experiences as a Rockefeller heiress in the novel, which is probably why it all seems absurd, but hauntingly realistic at the same time.   

‘The Chocolate Money’ is definitely not a book for everyone. You must be able to deal with quite some shocking details, as the book is a bit disturbing and messed-up at times. I was fascinated by Bettina’s character from the start and her yearning for attention, trying to showcase this in various ways. I enjoyed reading about her time at boarding school, which included some interesting characters like Meredith, Holly and Cape. The story moves along quickly, which resulted in me finishing the novel after just a few hours. This book has received some great reviews and in a way I can understand why. I think certain readers will definitely enjoy this novel and find it captivating, but I personally found it was all a bit too twisted and too dark for my liking. Overall, an interesting but slightly disconcerting look into the world of the wealthy that focuses around a teenage girl’s unheard cry for attention, which will interest some, but will shock others.
 

Rating:6/10

 

Review: 'The Rose Garden' by Marita Conlon-McKenna (2013)

Molly's perfect life comes crashing down following the unexpected death of her husband David. She is left alone with a big old house to maintain, finances in disarray and her hopes for happiness in a heap. But Molly is a survivor. Despite objections from her two daughters, Molly fears that the only solution will be to sell their beloved home.

But as she finds herself drawn to the old neglected and overgrown walled rose garden and the dilapidated gardener's cottage attached, she suddenly sees a future as she decides to restore them. As the rose garden takes on a new life and starts to bloom again, Molly finds that she can look to the future with new confidence and hope.

When I received a review copy of this novel (thanks to the lovely people at Transworld!), I was pleasantly surprised. I hadn’t heard anything about this book or its author before, but I straight away fell in love with the gorgeous cover (from the beautiful font to the wonderful colours that remind me of spring and sunshine) and the title. I’ve always had a soft spot for large country gardens with tons of flowers and wooden benches with engravings in them... Even though I am personally absolutely rubbish at taking care of even the simplest plants. Somehow, I had a feeling that I would really enjoy this novel, and thankfully, I was right!

Molly Hennessy is heartbroken after the sudden death of her beloved husband, David. She is now a widower with two grown-up daughters who are busy leading their own lives in other parts of Ireland, while she is still living at Mossbawn House, the large country manor that has functioned as their family home for several years. Molly can’t possibly imagine leaving Mossbawn, but there’s simply too much room for just her and her dog Daisy, and financially things aren’t looking great. One day, Molly discovers a part of the grounds she hadn’t really paid too much attention to before, a rose garden, and she decides to restore it to its former glory. With this project to keep her occupied and the help of two other women living in the town of Kilfinn, Gina and Kim, Molly finds herself slowly starting to pick up the pieces of her life and thinking about her own and Mossbawn’s future.

After just a few chapters I was already completely absorbed by this novel. I felt myself wanting to read on and on to find out more about the characters, the small Irish town of Kilfinn in which the story is mainly set, Mossbawn House... All of it. This probably had to do with the fact that ‘The Rose Garden’ includes numerous elements I adore in novels: some great and diverse female characters (Molly, Kim and Gina are each different and lovely women), several plotlines coming together, a wonderful setting (I loved all the descriptions of the Irish countryside) and a large, enchanting, country estate. Marita Conlon-McKenna managed to describe Mossbawn House so perfectly; I could see the house and garden in my mind, and the journey it goes through in this novel was just fabulous. I love visiting these kind of old mansions in my free time, and discovering the history behind the house and the families that grew up there, so the fact that a place like Mossbawn House takes on such a central role in this novel, made me enjoy it even more than I already did because of the interesting storylines and characters.

If I have to name something about this book I really did not like, I don’t think I could come up with something. However, there was something that did bother me a bit and that was the amount of characters, most specifically the amount of names. Kilfinn is a small town in which almost everyone knows everyone, and perhaps this is something Marita Conlon-McKenna wanted to get across. However, all the different names that were introduced with each event or party got my head spinning sometimes, because I couldn’t remember whether I was supposed to know someone or not and whether they played a significant role, yes or no. After a while, though, I just decided to read on and not remember all the different names, which worked out just fine. Overall, ‘The Rose Garden’ is a fabulous, heart-warming story about dealing with loss and taking the time to find love and happiness, in whatever kind or form... A definite must-read for lovers of anything romantic! 

Rating:9/10  

June 2013 release: 'The Rose Garden' by Marita Conlon-McKenna

 

Molly's perfect life comes crashing down following the unexpected death of her husband David. She is left alone with a big old house to maintain, finances in disarray and her hopes for happiness in a heap. But Molly is a survivor. Despite objections from her two daughters, Molly fears that the only solution will be to sell their beloved home.

 

But as she finds herself drawn to the old neglected and overgrown walled rose garden and the dilapidated gardener's cottage attached, she suddenly sees a future as she decides to restore them.

 

As the rose garden takes on a new life and starts to bloom again, Molly finds that she can look to the future with new confidence and hope.

 

Even though I am horrible with flowers and plants and everything that has to do with gardening, I have always loved beautiful gardens and all kinds of colourful flowers. 'The Rose Garden' immediately caught my attention because of the title (nothing like a small, romantic garden with all kinds of gorgeous roses) and because of the cover (it's simply stunning!). The blurb of Marita Conlon-McKenna's new novel sounds really interesting. I love stories about old country houses and I'm quite curious to find out what happens to Molly and her family. Be sure to pick up your own copy of this lovely novel from the 20th of June! 

 

Pre-order your own copy here!