The books I read this month:
-
The Accidental Life
of Jessie Jefferson – Paige Toon 5/5
-
Midsummer
Sweetheart – Katy Regnery 5/5
-
The Dead Wife’s
Handbook – Hannah Beckerman 5/5
-
Between a Rockstar
and a Hard Place – Portia Macintosh 4/5
-
The Best Thing I
Never Had – Erin Lawless 2.5/5
-
The Park Bench Test
–
Sarah Lefebeve 3.5/5
-
The Memory Book – Rowan Coleman 5/5
-
The Guestbook – Holly Martin 5/5
-
Gut Feeling – Victoria Browne 4.5/5
-
The Right Side of
Mr Wrong – Jane Linfoot 4/5
- How To Get A (Love) Life – Rosie Blake 4/5
Paige Toon is one of my favourite authors and I couldn’t wait for
Johnny’s and Meg’s story to continue. I was really curious whether her YA novel
would be any different to her chick-lit books, but I have to say I loved it.
This is not the only book I fell in love with in February. Hannah Beckerman did
a brilliant with her debut novel. This book is amazing, so again there is more than one book of the month again (sorry). In fact I have three this time, I won't go further though, but they all deserve it. The Guestbook is brilliant as well and there
are some other stories I fell in love with this month. God this is so hard:
The
Accidental Life Of Jessie Jefferson – Paige
Toon
The bit on the back:
The first YA fiction novel, from
the bestselling adult author Paige Toon.
Meet Jessie, the daughter of Johnny
Jefferson, as featured in Johnny Be Good and Baby Be Mine…
My fifteenth birthday was the worst
day of my life, and it's inconceivable to think that any single day in my
future will ever be as bad. My mum was killed in a freak accident on her way to
pick up my cake. Even when there was still no sign of her after two hours
later, and my friends started to arrive at our house, it never occurred to me
that she wouldn't be coming back.
That was six months ago. My mum
died without telling me who my real dad was. And for a while I hated her for
it. I thought she's taken the secret of my father's identity with her forever.
But she didn't. Holy hell, she didn't. Because three weeks ago I found out the
truth. And I'm still reeling from the shock of it. My dad is none other than
Johnny Jefferson, mega famous rock star and one-time serial womaniser. And now
I'm on my way to LA to meet him and his family.
My tiny little world has just got a
whole lot bigger…
My opinion:
I was over the moon when this book
arrived even two days before publication day. I was waiting for it since I
finished Johnny's Girl and I sensed some real trouble there.
Jessie is a great character and
not really how I expected her to be, which is a really good thing. This book is
full of so much energy, fun and it’s brilliantly written. The way Jessie’s and
Johnny’s relationship develops is great and I loved the way Paige described all
their scenes. I enjoyed being back with johnny, mega nd their little boys, I
adore them J.
Jessie’s story is full of drama,
adventoures, fun, flirting, friendship and love. I absolutely LOVED it!!! MARVELOUS ♥
The
Dead Wife’s Handbook – Hannah Beckerman
The bit on the back:
'Today is
my death anniversary. A year ago today I was still alive.'
Rachel, Max
and their daughter Ellie had the perfect life - until the night Rachel's heart
stopped beating.
Now Max and
Ellie are doing their best to adapt to life without Rachel, and just as her
family can't forget her, Rachel can't quite let go of them either. Caught in a
place between worlds, Rachel watches helplessly as she begins to fade from
their lives. And when Max is persuaded by family and friends to start dating
again, Rachel starts to understand that dying was just the beginning of her
problems.
As Rachel
grieves for the life she's lost and the life she'll never lead, she learns that
sometimes the thing that breaks your heart might be the very thing you hope
for.
Hannah
Beckerman gives an unforgettable exploration of love and loss in her first
novel, The Dead Wife's Handbook
My opinion:
This debut novel is
BRILLIANT! Hannah’s writing is touching, real, gripping, unputdownable…
It makes you think about life from a different angle and we get an
insight on how to deal with death and how different everyone is dealing with
it.
I loved all the characters and it was great to read about Rachel’s
memories, I loved these scenes. Ellie is so adorable, cute and inncocent, I
loved her and she added a lot to this wonderful story. It was fascinating to
read about Max and how he was dealing with his wife’s death and then slowly
moving on. I can’t tell you enough how much I loved this debut novel, it’s hard
to put it in words.
FASCINATING; MARVELLOUS, let’s just call it a masterpiece. Can’t wait to
read more of this talented and lovely author.
The Guestbook – Holly Martin
The bit on the back:
Welcome to Willow Cottage – throw
open the shutters, let in the sea breeze and make yourself completely at home.
Oh, and please do leave a comment in the Guestbook!
As landlady of Willow Cottage, the
young widow Annie Butterworth is always on hand with tea, sympathy or strong
Norfolk cider - whatever her colourful array of guests require. A flick through
the messages in the leather-bound cottage guestbook gives a tantalizing glimpse
into the lives of everyone who passes through her doors.
This includes Annie herself -
especially now celebrity crime writer Oliver Black, is back in town. He might
grace the covers of gossip magazines with a different glamorous supermodel
draped on his arm every week, but to Annie, he’s always just been Olly, the man
who Annie shared her first kiss with.
Through the pages of the Guestbook
Annie and Olly, along with all the guests that arrive at the seaside retreat,
struggle with love, loss, mystery, joy, happiness, guilt…and the odd spot of
naked rambling!
Forget sending postcards saying
'wish you were here' - one visit to Willow Cottage and you’ll wish you could
stay forever.
My opinion:
It’s so different from other books and that makes it so unique and
special. It’s full of entries in the guestbook of Willow Cottage and that’s
also the way we are able to follow the story. This idea is outstanding and
takes this book on a higher and magical level.
Annie and Olly are great characters with an undeniable chemistry and I loved getting to know their story over all these entries in the guestbook. The guests were fun, interesting and some also strange and they all had their own story to share. An amazing novel, so refreshing and brilliantly
written.
Sarah
Morgan: Sarah Morgan shows us different sides and she is
brilliant in all of them. I loved her Notting Hill Diaries, but most of all I
adored Maybe This Christmas, the third book in the Snow Crystal series, it was
great to be back in this world and the book and the writing are just fabulous!
