Book of the Month - July

The books I read this month:

-       The Little Antique Shop under the Eiffel Tower – by Rebecca Raisin 3/5

-       Wildflower Bay – by Rachael Lucas 4.5/5

-       Sunset in Central Park – by Sarah Morgan 5/5

-       The Perfect Gift – by Emma Hannigan 4.5/5

-       My Husband’s Wife – by Amanda Prowe 5/5

-       Learning to Speak American – by Colette Dartford 4.5/5

-       The Trouble with Henry and Zoe – by Andy Jones 4/5

-       The Little Flower Shop by the Sea – by Ali McNamara 5/5

-       Love in an Elevator: A Romantic Comedy Anthology - by Aven Ellis, Beth Labonte, Whitney Dineen, Becky Monson, Rich Amooi, Geralyn Corcillo, Lindy Dale and Dee Ernst 4/5

-       Everything Love Is - by Claire King 2/5

-       The Santiago Sisters - by Victoria Fox 3/5

Finally, had some more time for reading this month, two clear favourites: 

Sunset in Central Park – Sarah Morgan

The bit on the back:

In the chaos of New York, true love can be hard to find, even when it's been right under your nose all along…

Love has never been a priority for garden designer Frankie Cole. After witnessing the fallout of her parents' divorce, she's seen the devastation an overload of emotion can cause. The only man she feels comfortable with is her friend Matt—but that's strictly platonic. If only she found it easier to ignore the way he makes her heart race…

Matt Walker has loved Frankie for years but, sensing how fragile she is beneath her feisty exterior, has always played it cool. But then he uncovers new depths to the girl he's known forever and doesn't want to wait a moment longer. He knows Frankie has secrets and has buried them deep, but can Matt persuade her to trust him with her heart and kiss him under the Manhattan sunset?

My opinion:

Sarah Morgan manages to amaze me every single time! Sunset in Central Park is an amazingly written story by a very talented author, who hooks you with her words!!! This book has it all: A gripping storyline, amazing characters, a wonderful location and a lot of excitment!!!!

Sarah on Twitter: @SarahMorgan_

Website: http://sarahmorgan.com

Goodreads - Amazon UK - Amazon US

My Husband’s Wife – Amanda Prowse

The bit on the back:

Once a week, Rosie Tipcott counts her blessings.

She goes to sit on her favourite bench on the north Devon cliffs, and thanks her lucky stars for her wonderful husband, her mischievous young daughters, and her neat little house by the sea. She vows to dedicate every waking hour to making her family happy.

But then her husband unexpectedly leaves her for another woman and takes the children. Now she must ask the question: what is left in her life? Can Rosie find the strength to rebuild herself? More importantly, does she even want to?

My opinion:

UNPUTDOWNABLE!!! Amanda has a real gift of creating an emotional, heratbreaking, addictive and touching story. I read it in one go and fell in love with Amanda writing once more. She creates these atmospheres full of emotions and manages to make it unique for the characters.

Amanda on Twitter: @MrsAmandaProwse

Website: http://amandaprowse.org

Goodreads - Amazon UK - Amazon US

The Santiago Sisters - by Victoria Fox

Original Cover

My own copy

The blurb:

Bound by blood. Separated by scandal.

Growing up on a ranch in Patagonia, twins Calida and Terisita Santiago have never known a world without each other. Introverted Calida can’t imagine life anywhere else but feisty Terisita dreams of fame and fortune.

World-famous English actress Simone Geddes believes that her profile would benefit from a PR boost and has decided to adopt. A potential family has been identified in Argentina and Simone and her team are en route to a meeting when her driver takes a wrong turn and she ends up at the Santiago ranch. There she becomes enchanted by the beautiful 14 year old Terisita and makes an offer to Julia, the sisters’ mother who has struggled to cope since the death of her husband.

Without either twin knowing the truth, Terisita is whisked to a life of luxury in London with Simone. Soon her old life in Argentina is nothing but a distant memory and all she feels is hatred towards the sister who she believes abandoned her. Meanwhile Calida tries to understand how her beloved sister could have turned her back on them and left without a word.

As the years pass, where the sisters were once connected by love, now it is a shared hatred that fuels them as each one vows revenge…

The Santiago Sisters is a story of the love, loyalty and betrayal which run through the lives of the rich and famous.

My Opinion:

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

The book is split into four distinct parts and tells the story oft he Santiago sisters. It covers their childhood and the whole life after that. Calida and Terisita grow up on a ranch in Argentina. The twins couldn’t be more different, Calida is introverted and shy. Terisita is the opposite. The girls don’t have an easy childhood and especially Calida suffers a lot.

When Simone Geddes, a famous actress, comes and adopts Terisita live changes dramatically for both of them. They are both told lies as well, which makes the situation more complicated.

Terisita grows up in England and has a luxurious life, spends time in Cannes and later in the states. Calida’s mother leaves her when she is old enough to manage the farm herself. Daniel is there for her, but she soon wants to have more and leaves. Life takes her to New York eventually…

The sisters think about each other, but it’s always connected to betrayal or even hate. A lot of things happen in their lives, mostly connected to love, romance, work and friendship. There are a lot of characters in this story, too many for my taste. Sometimes the perspectives between the characters changed abruptly and you never knew whether it’s a character to remember or not. I really struggled with that. It’s kind of hard to focus on the story like that. I also felt like the story moved really fast at times, years passed and lots of things happened out of context, certain things were jumped. Some moments and scenes also didn’t make sense to me at all. They were part of the story, but not well integrated in the storyline. I had difficulties understanding some decisions the characters made as well.

I kind of had an idea about the outcome pretty soon, but was always told otherwise, which made the story more interesting. In the end I was right though ;).

I really like the idea and concept behind the story. I think it’s also a great idea to split the book into four parts. It’s an intriguing story about sisters, who clearly have a bond, but they have to find their way through jealousy, betrayal, drama, misunderstandings and more. Victoria Fox’s writing has sparks and excitement and I really liked that.

Rating:

My possible cast:

Calida and Teresita: Carla Quevedo

Victoria Fox divides her time between

Bristol and London.

She used to work in publishing and is

now the author of 6 novels.

@Mira_BooksUK   @VFoxWrites   #TheSantiagoSisters

Amazon buy link: http://amzn.to/2aa6KFg