Book Spoltlight - To Tell a Tale or Two... by Kelly Florentia

@GGBookTours

Blurb:

A collection of ten contemporary short stories about love, betrayal and family drama, all with a subtle twist! 

Ideal for fans of chick-lit, these ten minute reads will take you through the pain of infidelity to the heartache of letting go of someone you love, the lightheartedness of speed dating to the chill of an encounter with a ghost. 

Can Rebecca forgive her husband for a drunken one night stand? Find out in Band of Gold. How does Jan react when she comes face to face with her psychic lover after fifteen-years? All is revealed in Waiting for Daisy. And just how did Rob end up in a pool of blood at his wife's feet? A Passionate Crime discloses all. 

Enjoy these bite sized tales during a coffee break, with a glass of wine in the evening or as a quick bedtime read. 

Author Biography:


Kelly Florentia is an author of women's fiction. Her short stories have been published in women's magazines worldwide and anthologised by Accent Press in their charity range. Her eBook, To Tell a Tale or Two, featuring ten of her short stories, was published in February 2014 and is available for download via Amazon.

Kelly is currently working on her second novel, a contemporary romantic drama with a supernatural swirl. Her first novel is awaiting publication.

Kelly lives in London with her husband. Hobbies include reading, jogging, cycling, Facebooking, Tweeting and yoga. Oh, and the odd game of Candy Crush Saga.

Links:

You can buy To Tell a Tale or Two from <a href="http://9nl.be/l6qr">Amazon </a>

Facebook – http://facebook.com/kelly.florentia"
Twitter - @kellyflorentia
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7915633.Kelly_Florentia?from_search=true
Website - http://www.kellyflorentia.co.uk

Trailer:

http://youtu.be/jfLU6lguRjE

@GGBookTours  

The Brightest Star in the Sky - by Marian Keyes

Original Cover

My own copy

The blurb:

Welcome to 66 Star Street . . . In the top-floor flat lives music exec Katie. She spends her days fighting off has-been rock stars and wondering how much cheesecake you'd need to eat yourself to death. Below her, a pair of muscular Poles share with a streetwise cabbie named Lydia, who has a sharp tongue, an even sharper brain but some unexpected soft spots. On the first floor is Fionn - a gardener who prefers the company of parsnips to people. But he looks like a fairy-tale prince and when he's offered his own television show, he's suddenly thrust into the limelight. And at the bottom of the house live Matt and Maeve, who are Very Much In Love and who stave off despair by doing random acts of kindness. But a mysterious visitor has just landed at 66 Star Street, bringing love, friendship and heartbreak, and a new-found optimism. Old secrets are working their way to the surface and all their lives are about to change in the most unexpected of ways . . .

My Opinion:

A lovely and deep story about characters who live in the same house.

Well, to be honest: At first I didn’t understand this story and it was too much for me what all the changes between the characters. I got warm with Matt and Maeve first. Such an adorable couple and I sensed some unspoken thing in their story, so I really wanted to find out what it was.

Then there was Lydia, her story got more and more interesting, so I loved following her after a while.

With Fionn and Katie I didn’t get warm though. I found it really difficult to find a connection, the spark was just missing.

There was so much going on all the time. I loved drama and things happening, but it kind of was too much.

The story of Matt and Maeve took a shocking turn and I was literally crying and just hoping for everything to turn out okay.

That was one thing I really loved about this book, the emotional way Marian wrote it. The emotions really transferred and got me closer to the characters.

An other thing I loved was when all the charceters got together and interacted, they were neighbours after all.

The ending was very interesting and moving.

The idea of the book is amazing and it’s a pleasant change from other stories. The whole concept just was a little too much for me, with too many single stories going on at the beginning.

Rating:

After reading this book I didn't feel like putting together a cast. There very too many characters for me and not enough information about their appearance.

Marian on Twitter: @MarianKeyes
Website: http://www.mariankeyes.com/Home

What music means to me

You all already know about my passion for Musicals, but that’s not it, I’m in there way more.

I guess part of it definitely comes from my mum. She loves music, sang in a choir for most of her life, well...

It all started with me taking ballet lessons at the age of six. The ballet changed into Modern dance, into Modern Jazz, to Jazz and then finally Hip Hop. I was at a local Dance school and had training every week until I was 19.

When I was nine years old I started taking piano lessons and I still play. Nowadays I mostly choose my own songs and try to play something with the chords.

I started the singing when I started High School. I joined the school choir called Vocal Joy and sang in this choir four years. With that I also started taking voice lessons, which really helped me a lot. In my third High School year we performed the Musical „Linie 1“. It’s a German one and I must say I really enjoyed it.

Well, as soon as I finished High School I joined my mother’s choir. I just couldn’t cope without being in a choir. We had a concert under the theme of Cinema Classics. It was awesome, we sang great songs out of awesome movies. Now It’s my forth year in the choir already and I’m really enjoying it.

As you know already I am also a member of a Theatre Group and we performed Oliver! two years ago, now we are rehearsing for the The Sound of Music.

I love singing and also playing the piano while I sing, I really feel it’s a great way to express myself and my emotions. The lyrics give me the possibility to say what I want, in a great and different way. I started writing my own songs, which I find really challenging. One song is finished, it's called Just A Dream, here is the video, tell me what you think:

Video of Just a Dream:

And another video of me singing Impossible:

And me singing All I've Ever Needed from the movie Grace Unplugged:

Chocolate Book Tag

I’m really excited to do this because it’s a bit different from your normal ‘tags’! I was tagged three times within two days I think by Laura from Laura' s Little Book Blog , Jenny from Jenny in Neverland and Erin from Erin's Choice.

Chocolate book tag? I love the idea of matching with certain types of chocolate J I’m a big chocolate lover anyway so I was really motivated!!! It turned out that it was harder than I thought. Well, enough talking here are my answers.

1. Dark Chocolate: a book that covers a dark topic

As it turns out this was the hardest tag for me, because it’s been a while since I’ve read books on dark topics, it’s also not really my favourite topic to read about. I’ve chosen Beyond Grace’s Rainbow by Carmel Harrington, because it covers the delicate and hard topic of cancer. This is a sad, emotional, touching and also heart-breaking story of a woman fighting with this disease...

 2. White Chocolate: your favourite light hearted/humorous read

OMG, there are a lot of books which I’d list here. I gotta go for The Wish List by Jane Costello though. It’s written in a fun, vivid, bubbly and fascinating way, I couldn’t put it down and it’s full of LOL moments!!!

3. Milk Chocolate: a book that has a lot of hype that you’re dying to read

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. I’ve heard so many great things about this book and it really sounds like a book I’d enjoy very much. I just haven’t had the time to read it yet, it’s in my book shelf though and I definitely want to read it before the movie comes out in June. I loved the Trailer for the movie.

4. Chocolate With a Caramel Centre: a book that made you feel all gooey in the middle whilst you were reading it

This has to be Chasing Daisy by Paige Toon. This book is really emotional, touching and brilliantly written. I felt like really being part of this story and I absolutely love reading this story, never wanting to get out of it anymore.

5. Wafer Free KitKat: name a book that has surprised you lately

It has to be The Guestbook by Holly Martin, because it’s so unique and special in every way. We read about the characters and their story through entries in a guest book. It’s such a wonderful and refreshing idea, I absolutely adored this book.

6. Snickers: a book that you’re going nuts about

Waiting or Prince Harry by Aven Ellis! This book is just amazing!!! I was so exciting when I finally received the copy and there are just not enough words to describe how much I love this book, it’s WICKED! Bubbly, sexy, passionate and much more.

7. Hot Chocolate with Cream and Marshmallows: a book you would turn to for a comfort read

This one has to be Connectivity by Aven Ellis. I know, it’s her again, but I just love Aven’s books. Aven really understands how to create a passionate, exciting, brilliant, vivid and emotional story. I can’t get enough of her stories and they always make me feel good J.

8. Box of Chocolates: what series have you read that you feel has a wide variety and something for everyone?

It has to be the Harry Potter series. These books are wonderful and full of magic, fun, mystery, love, friendship good, evil and much more. There is something to relate to for everyone. It’s enjoyable for children, teens and adults…

I tag:

Maryline @ M’sBookshelf

Alba @ Lostin ChickLit

Jess @ ANovel Thought

The Girl in the Moonlight

Emma @ Chicklit vs Fantasy

Amanda @ Adventures from the Bookshelf

The Guest List - by Melissa Hill

Original Cover

My own copy

The blurb:

When funny, kind and gorgeous Shane proposes, Cara is over the moon, and can't wait to share the news of their engagement with all their friends and family.

Excitement, however, quickly turns to apprehension when it seems that everyone has a fixed idea of the perfect wedding and offers to 'help' with the planning. With tussles over the ceremony and the size of the guest list, sibling rivalry and insistent in-laws-to-be, Cara can see the vision she has of her big day being ripped to shreds.

So she and Shane determine to make a stand and do things their way. But when they announce their plans for a beach wedding on a beautiful Caribbean island, there is uproar. Threats are made, family secrets are revealed, and things turn decidedly stormy.

Will Cara and Shane manage to overcome all obstacles? Or will their dream wedding turn into a nightmare?

My Opinion:

Cara and Shane are the perfect couple. When Cara gets an invite to a wedding, the couple gets to talk about marriage too. Does Shane even want to get married? Then one night he has prepared everything and proposes. Apparently he had planned this for quite a while and just waited for the right moment.

Everybody is really happy about their engagement and Cara’s mum Betty immediately wants to plan everything and book the church already. Cara tries to tell her, that she and Shane just want a small wedding and that they are paying it themselves. Her mother doesn’t seem to understand. Also Shane’s parents are happy about it and would like to plan a huge wedding. It is harder than they think to tell their parents off. It was interesting to read what they tried to convince their parents from what they wanted, Melissa found a great way to put this into writing, I was taken into the story so easily.

Ben and Kim (her brother and her sister-in-law) are over the moon about it and support their decision all the way. Kim is pregnant with her third child. Cara’s sister Heidi is not at all happy about the engagement. And then when she wants to tell everybody about her pregnancy Cara and Kim share their news first. Heidi is a little dumb and overprotective about herself. It was so funny to read her comments, she brought a funny side into this novel.

Shane and Cara decide to go ahead and book their beach wedding in St. Lucia. Cara contacts her older sister Danielle, who lives in Florida, for details. Danielle doesn’t seem happy about the whole family coming over, but why? I couldn’t put the book down, because I wanted to find out about Danielle’s secret.

Cara’s parents are not happy about the decision either, but eventually they come round. And Heidi too (flying when I’m pregnant, no way!!!). But, what about Shane’s parents? They just can’t accept it and develop a cruel plan which creates new drama and misunderstandings.

Cara goes dress shopping and finds the perfect one, she is so happy. When Shane sees her like this, he cannot tell her what his parents have been up to. That’s why she hears from Shane’s mother about it. Cara is shocked!!!

 At home she confronts Shane about it and he tries to explain himself. They start fighting and Cara decides to call the wedding off and leaves. She doesn’t want to ruin his relationship to his parents. I was so sad at this point of the story, I just wanted them to get back together, the perfect couple, but the drama was great as well.

Shane's parents seem to realize what they did, can the wedding still take place? 

Then there is also also Danielle and her whole secret. At one point in the story it comes to a real showdown with all the family members there.

Danielle’s secret is revealed and it shockes everybody, especially Cara.

Well, I don't tell you what happens next...

The epilogue is really adorable and we hear some more great news ...

LOVE love love this story. I really was hooked to it. Amazing couple with chemistry, a lot of family drama and a great style of writing. AMAZING ♥

Rating: 

My possible cast:

Cara: Alyssa Milano

Shane: Jared Padalecki 

Danielle: Lauren Graham

Heidi: Michelle Trachtenberg

Ben: Guy Pearce

Kim: Kate Bosworth

Olivia: Taylor Hardick

Lindsay: Alyvia Alyn Lind

Conor: Dennis Quaid

Melissa Hill on Twitter: @melissahillbks

Website: http://www.melissahill.ie