The Winter Wedding - by Abby Clements

Original Cover

My own copy

The blurb:

Hazel never set out to be a wedding planner. She was just helping her stressed sister Lila with cakes and décor for her big day. But when Lila and Ollie's summer ceremony is a runaway success, with guests raving about the food and styling at the pretty venue, word about Hazel's expertise soon spreads.

But Hazel's clients expect the very best - she's promised lawyers Gemma and Eliot a snow-covered castle in the Scottish Highlands, and laidback couple Josh and Sarah a bohemian beach wedding in a Caribbean paradise. But as weather, in-laws and wilful brides conspire against her, can Hazel get two very different couples to walk up two very different aisles to say 'I do'? And will she find her own happy ending if she does?

My Opinion:

*Book provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

The Winter Wedding is the second book by Abby Clements I have read and I enjoyed every single second of it, I was hooked!

It follows the story of Hazel, who suddenly sees herself plan her twin sister Lila’s wedding. After it being a big success, she gets busy planning more weddings and it changes something in her. She realiszes what she enjoyes in life and what she really wants, that has an impact of course on her current job. Her boss there is terrible! The only upside there is her colleague Josh, they spend a lot of time together.

Through planning Lila’s wedding we learn a lot about their childhood and their past, also about their relationship and of course the relationship to their parents and brother Ben. Ben gets his story covere das well and it brings and extra mystery into it all.

Then there is Hazel’s own love life. Is she interested in Josh and what about her best friend Sam?! I was eagerly following that part oft he story, because I just felt that she had a special connection to one oft he man. Abby kept us guessing quiet long.

The characters are all just great and Hazel ist he perfect main chracter in my eyes. I loved following her story and it all came across so true and authentic. I also really adored the way they all interacted with each other, a great group of characters, all oft hem unique and special.

This wonderful story has it all: amazing characters, a beautiful storyline, love, family, passion, romance and friendship. Abby’s writing is vivid, fresh and it makes you dive into the story immediately.

Rating:

My possible cast:

Hazel: Ashely Olsen

Lila: Mary-Kate Olsen

Abby on Twitter: @AbbyCBooks Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Abby-Clements-Books-118387874972546/ Goodreads - Amazon UK - Amazon US

Good Reviews vs Bad Reviews

As book bloggers writing reviews is our daily „bread“. I wrote a blog last year explaining my rating system. Now, us book bloggers, we talk a lot and we exchange our thoughts on books, but also other blogging issues. I think it happened to all of us that we didn’t like a book and when it comes to writing the review it gets really hard. „How will I write it in a way that the author or publisher doesn’t get upset?“

Well, let me tell you one thing, reviews are not there to please an author! It might sound cruel and we all want to be friends with the authors we like. Yes, Twitter is great and I have met a lot of great authors through it. It’s wonderful to chat with them and I enjoy the contact very much, but I think when it comes to reviewing it’s important to be constructive and honest.

I had cases, where I didn’t like a book and I felt really bad about it. I’ve learned to make the best out of the situation. I write the review, put my honest opinion in it and try to explain the way I felt about a book. There are some book bloggers out there who only post reviews of books they like and everything under a 3* is not going on the blog. For me that’s not what blogging and reviewing is about. There are so many books out there, different genres, authors and stories, so not every book is for everyone. We have different tastes and it’s natural that we don’t like every book. Reviewing is about sharing your opinion on a book, whether it’s good or bad. It is a feedback for the author, but also information for other readers, who are looking for a new book to read.  Of course I always feel a little bad writing a bad review, it’s also harder to find the right words in my opinion. It gets even more difficult when you are supposed to review the book for a blog tour, I always feel kind of bad and I think that will stick, but I’ve learned to write my reviews in an honest, constructive and open way, I include examples and I mention the good as well as the bad things. I’ve had blog tours or publishers who said that they only want 3* reviews or higher ones, I also had authors who mentioned that in emails. Of course all authors want good feedback and for promotions only the high ones count. You can’t please everyone with your stories and you don’t have to!!! Yes, seeing a one star or 2 star review is not nice and some of these reviews are not constructive, but I think authors still have to accept them.

My tip for all the book bloggers: Be true to yourself, be honest and say what you feel, as long as you explain it in your review it’s all good. There will always be authors who don’t like that, but it’s their problem!!!

Goodbye 2015 - Hello 2016

Another year has passed and now it's already 2016, so HAPPY NEW YEAR.

I'm taking this opportunity to look back on 2015, but also look forward to 2016. And yes I will cover several aspects; blogging and also my personal life.
In 2015 I finished my whole first school year as a teacher. It was really special and I really miss my 6th graders, they will always have a special place in my heart. This also meant the first performance of a play I directed. It was a great experience, very stressful,  it I learned a lot and in the end it was wonderful! I then enjoyed a great summer before the new school year started. It felt great not to be the new one anymore. The new school year meant a lot of changes for us, but it's all going well now. I did another play with the kids, this time just before Christmas, it was a big success. I am looking forward to 2016 with the kids, it will be a lot of hard work, but I love my job :) 
Now, the blogging. I had a great year of blogging, read a lot of books and wrote a lot of blog posts as well. I'm still mainly a book blogger, but I have enjoyed writing lifestyle posts, travel posts or about other topics. I added another fashion feature called "Quotable Styles" and organized some blog related features and giveaways. In September I had a reading slump, luckily I got out of it again and it never affected my posts. I never felt the pressure to write and not have enough content and I'm really grateful for that. I am very organized and I'm happy that I have time to enjoy other things as well, next to work and blogging. I have also started reading more lifestyle, travel, fashion and beauty blogs and I'm really enjoying them. Lately I've also been watching YouTube videos and discovered some great vloggers, they are so inspiring that I'm thinking of starting my own little channel. Let's see how it goes... I will stick to blogging of course. In 2015 I read 133 books, for my goodreads challenge I have set 120 again, like last year. I don't like setting goals about like, followers or subscribers and that's why I don't do it. If I reach a certain number, I will be happy, maybe celebrate and do a giveaway! :)  Last year I started writing more personal posts, the most personal one and the one I'm most proud of is this one: Confidence - Believe in Yourself!!!
Blogging for me this year also meant meeting lots of new people online. The friendships that open up through it are amazing. I went to two author events/launches in London this year. Yes you all know that I love London. The blogging has added another reason for me to always go back. In March a went to Rebecca Raisin's event at 5th view in Waterstones Piccadilly. Rebecca is a great author and has become a wonderful friend, it was amazing to meet her. Through that event I was also able to finally meet some of my book blogging friends as well. That has been fab. Karen Aldous was there as well, another author I really got to love. The second event was in October, it was Holly martin's book launch. I was so happy to finally hug that woman, she is just fantastic. I met some more awesome bloggers and authors there and the other I saw for the second time! We had such a great time!!! That event meant meeting my bestie Maryline for the second time. We met through blogging as well and I can truly say that she is my best friend, we are soul sisters. In July 2015 we spent some days together in Berlin, we had the best time ever!!! It felt like I knew her all my life. I am definitely planning on meeting her again several times next year and I will also go back to London for more bookish events. I'm hoping to meet more of these fab people in real life. 
London means traveling, so let's stick to the topic. Of course I also enjoyed some shopping, musicals, sightseeing and Harry Potter related stuff in London. Next year I def wanna see Aladdin in London and hey there is also the Harry Potter play. 205 meant Florida for me as well. Florida is like a second home to me and experiencing Miami, Key West, Marco Island, Siesta Key, Tampa and Orlando was just amazing. I'm going to America again, New York, Dallas and Chicago this time, I can't wait. 
I'm still singing in my choir and really enjoying it. This year we have several concerts loved up, including a Christmas concert at the famous KKL concert hall in Lucerne. I will also join the committee of the choir. Musical vise we have the 30th anniversary of our theatre group and we are doing CHESS, additions are on the 10th, so wish me luck. 
So this has been a little flashback and a look forward, hope you enjoyed it. What are your plans for this year?