My Top 10 Books 2013

Well, I am not picking only books published in 2013, because I have read so many different ones this year and it’s my first year as a blogger, so I’m including all the books I’ve read this year. From next year on, as you already know I’m am doing a Book of the Month section and at the end of the year I will pick my faves out of these 12. So here are my favorites for this year and I have to tell you it was a really hard decision, because I read so many great ones. Enjoy :)

1. Chasing Daisy by Paige Toon

2. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

3. Just for Christmas by Scarlett Bailey

4. Sleigh Bells in the Snow by Sarah Morgan

5. The Life List by Lori Nelson Spielman

6.  The Johnny series by Paige Toon

7. It’s Raining Men by Milly Johnson

8. Calling Mrs Christmas by Carole Matthews

9. Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher

10. The First Last Kiss by Ali Harris

Chasing Daisy by Paige Toon

I just love Paige’s books so much. This one is probably my favourite one. I clicked with Daisy instantly, partly because she swears in Italian and she is so awesome. Then there are Will and Luis, both incredible in their own way. I’m so glad Daisy found her happiness. It was great to read her story, going through good and also sad times. Such an emotional and addicting book, couldn’t put it down.

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Such a heart-breaking, beautiful and emotional story. It was great to see how Louisa managed to get closer to Will and how he was different when she was around. I had to cry non stop through some of the pages and this untypical story is written beautifully and touches every heart.

 Just for Christmas by Scarlett Bailey

Amazing story, great characters and some deep meanings. You see two people meet, both of them with a past and a background they don’t want to share and they get closer and closer. Scarlett has a vivid way to describe the story and I got hooked instantly.

Sleigh Bells in the Snow by Sarah Morgan

A beautiful story to dive into immediately, which never makes you want to leave again. Jackson O’Neil the sexy and perfect man, who manages to break Kayla’s shell. Their chemistry is undeniable. Can’t wait to read more of the O’Neil brothers and I’m so happy Jackson and Kayla found their happy end.

     The Life List by Lori Nelson Spielman

Completing a list to get your inheritance? No way, that’s going to work. The lovely Brett is trying to do that and it’s great to see her being a teacher and finding the love of her life. It takes her quiet a while, especially for the last one, but I really thinks she ends up with the right guy. What a lovely and wonderful debut novel.

Johnny Be Good, Baby Be Mine and Johnny's Girl by Paige Toon

                

The story of Johnny and Meg is a total rollercoaster with ups and downs and so much drama. Loved them from the start and it was great to finally see them happy at the end of Baby Be Mine. In Johnny’s Girl I adored their relationship so much and I loved their scenes. Paige is a great and talented writer and made Johnny and Meg such alive characters. 

 It’s Raining Men by Milly Johnson

Not just a great romantic read, it’s also a story with a deeper and greater meaning. The three friends May, Lara and Clare have such a great friendship and it’s so interesting what each one experiences in this small village, where everything is weird: the people and the weather...

Calling Mrs Christmas by Carole Matthews

In this case the quote “Reading is dreaming with open eyes” totally describes how I felt through out the story. I could imagine this life and world so easily and I am so glad Carole introduced us to the lovely Lapland. This story is really fascinating, vivid and full of extraordinary moments. LOVED IT!

Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher

Wonderful debut novel. I fell in love with this story around Billy and Sophie. A lot of ups and downs written in a magnificent way. The emotions came right through to me.

The First Last Kiss by Ali Harris

Such an emotional, moving and heart-breaking story. I loved Molly’s and Ryan’s story so much and it shows how much every single kiss means. It’s a memory for life, we shouldn’t forget that. Ali’s writing is beautiful and very emotional.

That was it for this year my lovely friends. I am so glad I got to know you all in this year, I found some true friends and enjoyed every minute of blogging. Have a nice NYE and a happy 2014. See you next year :)

It's Raining Men - by Milly Johnson

Original Cover

My own copy

The blurb:

Friends May, Lara and Clare are desperate for a holiday. They have been dreaming of a little bit of time away from it all at a luxury spa. But when they arrive in Ren Dullem, a small Yorkshire seaside town, by mistake, they have to adjust to a totally different kind of holiday.

May can't wait to get away from men after being cruelly deceived. Then in Dullem she falls hook line and sinker at first glance for one of the inhabitants - but he's already taken.

Lara is living with James and his awful step-children who taunt her with tales of his younger, prettier ex whom they adored - the woman who Lara walks in to find James in bed with despite all his protestations that he wouldn't touch her again with a barge pole. Reeling from the hurt, she needs some R & R to heal her. What she doesn't need is to be constantly in battle with the owner of the holiday cottage - a man who is every bit as bitter and resentful and untrusting of the other sex as she is.

Clare's kind, steady boyfriend Lud wants her to go and live abroad with him for two years, but she's just been offered the promotion of a lifetime which she can't turn down. In Ren Dullem she finds some single excitement which happens to turn up in the form of a very bad boy who is everything Lud isn't - impulsive, wild and dangerous.

Will this holiday be the break they all need? Or will the odd little town with all its secrets bring them all to breaking point…?

My Opinion:

Three friends, three different lifes, three different stories and one holiday. Can a holiday change your life?

Lara lives with her gorgeous boyfriend James and his teenage childern, who don’t like her. She also thinks, that something is different with James. It turns out he’s having an affair. She leaves for her holidays.

Clare gets a promotion and so does her German boyfriend Lud. His new job is in Dubai, so they decide to break up, that both oft hem can be free.

Then there’s May. She is happy with Michael, but he is married. Well, she thinks he is, but he’s not. There is another women. She ends the relationship.

The three girls, go on a holiday together. They are really good friends and work for the same company. One can feel their relationship instantly through the writing. However, they rarely see each other and they are totally different, which I think is really great and makes the story even more interesting.

When they arrive at their cottage, something is weird. They didn’t book this. They wanted to go to a spa and not a small cottage in the middle of nowhere. It’s in the middle oft he night, so they have to wait for the morning. Well that whole thing just made the book mysterious, which I really like. It seemed like there was a story behind the story and I love that as a reader.

Lara decides to confront the landlord, but he is really unfriendly and doesn’t want to hear anything. The girls thought that the cottage belongs to three women (Jean, Francis and Val), it turns out, Gene is a man. That’s just too funny, but I was thinking about men anyway, cause they had to come up once, didn’t they?

In the village everything is weird. The weather, the people…

May bumps into a man and is immediately drawn to him. There seem to be no women. The population acts strange when they see the three women. In a pub they get something to eat and Jenny (the owner seems tob e very nice). The door opens and in comes a girl in a wheelchair and behind her a man. It was the man May saw earlier. His name is Frances or Frank. So also the second one is a men.

The girl in the wheelchair doesn’t like to new guests and is a real bitch. Her name is Daisy. Frank apparently is only with her, because he caused her accident.

Clare finds a secret passage to a lagoon in her room and she becomes friends with a woman called Raine. On the way around she also meets Val, the third brother and they snog sometimes. Oh we’re getting closer to the mystery, how exciting.

So you see, there is a lot of mystery going around in this town and in the book and as I reader I just wanted to find out more.

Lara and Gene get closer, talk and he opens up to her. They also kiss and before she leaves, he tells her, that he is going to miss her and I think that’s so sweet, because he is not really the type to say that easily.

Also Frank and May get closer, but nothing happens, because there is still Daisy. Didn’t like her from the start, always thought she was hiding something or having a secret.

And Clare??? Well, she misses Lud.

The girls return to London . They get the opportunity to return though and I was so glad this happened. I felt there was more to the story and more to tell, so I was relieved.

May and Lara return instantly and Lara goes to see Gene immediately. First he is really cold and doesn’t let her in, he also vanishes for some seconds (top hone Frank, that May is in the cottage, so cute ;)). They talk and he doesn’t seem interested, only when she wants to leave he says: „Oh no, you won’t.“ The takes her arm and then she is in his arms. „You’re not going anywhere.“ (My favourite scene by far, so cute!!!)

Then it is three years later. We get some great news about how the life of the three friends developed, but it still leaves places to fill with our own imagination, which I think is really important. That’s also what Milly recommended me to do =)

Wonderful story, great characters, deep background and beautifully written!!! I fell in love with this book not just a normal romantic love story, no there is much more to it. There is a real deep story behind everything, which makes the book even more interesting and attractive for a reader. ♥ ♥ ♥

Rating: 

My possible cast:

Lara: Hilary Duff (with shorter hair)

May: Troian Bellisario

Clare: Olivia Wilde (with bob)

Gene: Jake Gyllenhall (darker eyes)

Frank: Josh Duhamel

Lud: Jensen Ackles

Val: Matt Cohen

Tianne: Audrina Patridge

James: Simon Baker

Daisy: Ashley Tisdale

Milly Johnson on Twitter: @millyjohnson
Website: http://www.millyjohnson.co.uk

Hope you enjoyed this review. A lot of Christmas specials coming up in the next few days :)