Ticino - Locarno, Ascona, Bellinzona

The day after I came home from Berlin, I left again for the aticino, the Italian part of

Moon and Stars

Switzerland. This meant that I had wbout six hours at home to clean, run errands, unpack, pack and cook. i managed somehow and left again for the train station at around 4 pm, of course it started aining rught when I left the house. The train ride to Locarno took me 2 h and 30 minutes, it's a beautiful journey and I was able to read a lot ;).

I arrived in Locarno around 7 pm and went to the Sensi reetaurant, where I met my patnts and uncle for a yummy dinner. After that we strolled through the city, got some gelato and enjoyed part of a concert. We didn't have tickets, but it's an oenair event, so we heard everything, which was great. Th Swiss band Pegasus was playing and itbreally rocked. We had another drink right by the entrance of the concert.

On Saturday we slept in and since ut was my dad's birthday he said what he wanted to do. we drove into Ascina, my favourute city down there wnd had a coffee to start with, then we had lunch at the same olace. It's a great place, right on the promenade and great for people watching, Inlove doing that. Afterwards i strolled through the city with my mum, we looked at the shops and enjoyed the sunshine. Then we went to our favourite bar, the Seven Sea Lounge and enjoyed some lovely drinks. Back at the little appartment we showered and git changed for my dad's big night. For thos special occiasion I decided tonwear my new Lilly Pulitzer dress with my white high heel sandals. We had dinner st the Villa Orselina, with a great view. My oncle joined us again, as well as friends with their 19 year old daughter. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed a delicious dinner.

Seven Sea Lounge

Sunday was a relaxing day, we slept in, went to have some coffee and enjoyed the sun by the pool, before I joined our friends, my parents and uncle on a round of golf. Yes, I don't play golf and it was a bit boring, but I enjoyed playing around with my mum's gold cart, seeing this beautiful place and reading a little bit in between. It even started raining for a short while, which was great in this heat. After the golf round wenhad dinner at the Grotto Brogini, I had a delicious Gazpacho again, this soup is perfect in summer.

Bellinzona

On Monday it was just mum and I. We went into Locarnomfo some shopping. I bought a silver grey maxi skirt and some great sandals, I'm really happy with what I've found. We also had lunch in Locarno and in the late afternoon we decided to cross the boarder and go to Italy. It's so close, so it's kind of a must do here. We drove to Cannobio. It's a cute little town, but full of dutch and German campers, you could also see that looking at the types of shops and restaurants they had, too touristy. So after enjoying some yummy Grissini and a beer, we bought some bread and prosciutto and drove back to the apartment in Locarno Monti, wher we enjoyed our greatbview, the food and a book.

On the next day it was time to say goodbye. After packung and cleaning wenstopped in Bellinzona, to look at the city and have some lunch, before driving home tomCentral Switzerland.

The Ticino is always worth a short trip and I must say I just adore Locarno and As ina. i hope next year I can make one of the openair concerts.

Dear Darling – by Ellen Faith

Original Cover

My own copy

The blurb:

‘I’m 30 years old and sat celebrating with a greasy pizza and a bottle of cheap plonk.’

On her 30th birthday, Ellie Darling decides that it’s time to start a diary. Mainly as a reminder for when she’s old and living with cats that she once had a life that wasn’t all bad. Even if it was one where at 30 years of age, she still refused to spend that extra £3 on the good wine instead of chocolate.

But when the only proposal she gets from her boyfriend on Valentine’s Day is that of a threesome, she decides that enough is enough! With a new, improved job as Personal Assistant to one of the most feared Partners at her law firm – one that she doesn't seem to be able to stop dreaming about – Ellie decides that this will be her year. And if she has to run errands for her boss’ neurotic Russian girlfriend or drag her best friend to a sponsored cycle with her now gay first love, then so be it.

My Opinion:

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

I’ve been eager to read this book for a while now. The cover is gorgeous and the blurb is very catchy.

On her 30iest birthday Ellie Darling decides to start writing a diary. When her model boyfriend proposes a threesome on Valentine’s Day, she has seen it and dumps him.

At work it’s not better. 19-year-old Sophie is being a bitch and taking her job away, thank god there is Adam Donley, the boss, and he makes her his PA.

Then Sophie makes no secret about her new lover – Roman. It’s a lot for Ellie to take in and deal with, but at least she has her friends Gina and Hannah. They have a great friendship, are always there for each other and they also have a lot of fun.

Ellie feels great in Adam’s presence and she really likes him, but he’s her boss, so… And then there is his Russian girlfriend Saskia, a real pain in the a**. She has to run all kinds of errands for her.

Adam and Ellie get closer to each other and their feelings develop. Will that cause problems?! Well, I won’t tell you more here, but I just adored these two together. Their scenes were sweet, memorable and unique. They way he treated her was great – even in the office, when she was fighting with Sophie.

Ellie is a wonderful character. After breaking up with Roman she just wants to leave everything behind her, she struggles, but that’s what made her authentic and real. She was down to earth and funny. At one point I didn’t like one of her actions, but oh well.

Adam comes across as the tough boss at first. He seems distant, moody and a bit arrogant at first and the fact that he is dating Sasika… Well, we get all the background info later and it turns out he is a great man! He’s thoughtful, generous, fun, gorgeous and sweet. They way he teases her is just so cute.

This is a gripping, fun and addictive story, brilliantly written and full of unique sparks.

Ellen is such a talented author; she always creates unique, memorable, fun and authentic stories. The storylines have a beautiful flow and the characters are very well lined out, with deep personal backgrounds.

Last but not least, I think the title is genius!!!

Rating:

My possible cast:

Ellie: Mollie King

Adam: Anthony Gastelier

Ellen on Twitter: @EllenFaith16 Website: http://ellenfaith.com Goodreads 
About the author

     Ellen lives in the wonderful county of Yorkshire, England with her husband where she spends most of her time with her nose in her laptop,

     a book or plate of food. 

Legal secretary and daydreamer by day,

     writer and serial tweeter by night, Ellen 

     finally decided to put all the magic in her 

     head to some use one day and put finger to laptop where The Story of Us was born and became her debut novel. Four novels later, 

     the daydreams are still going strong, thankfully!

She loves to travel and enjoys taking her readers on a journey to escape with her, in whatever country or village she decides on next.

The Lost Child - by Ann Troup

Banner design by Gina Dickerson - http://rosewolfdesign.wix.com/rosewolfdesign

My own copy

Original Cover

The blurb: 

Mandy Miller disappeared from Hallow’s End when she was just 3 years old. She was never found.

Thirty years on, Elaine Ellis is carrying her mother’s ashes back to Hallow’s End to scatter them in the place that she once called home. Elaine has never been there, but it’s the only place Jean talked about while she was growing up – so it seems as good a place as any.

As Elaine settles into her holiday cottage in the peaceful Devonshire village, she gets to know the locals; family she never knew she had, eccentric and old-fashioned gentry, and new friends where she would least expect them. But she is intrigued by the tale of the missing girl that the village still carries at its heart, and which somehow continues to overshadow them all. Little does she know how much more involved in the mystery she will become…

My opinion:

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

When Elaine’s mother dies, she goes to the place where her mother grew up. Arriving in Hallow’s End the mystery and the secrets start. The disappearance of 3 year old Mandy many years ago hangs like a dark shadow over the village.

Elaine meets teenage girl Brodie and seems to be the only one cracking this girl’s shell. Brodie is Mandy’s sister and her whole family is just a mess, a lot to go through in her young age.

Back home her childhood crush Dan is make reparations of Elaine’s mother’s house. He discovers something and by half of the book he takes up a very important part of the story.

What happened to Mandy?! The mystery, the dark secrets are beautifully described in a story full of twists and turns.

I kind of felt how it all would end by 50% of the story and sometimes there were to many people involved in this whole mystery. That made it a bit hard to follow the story.

It’s still a captivating, fascinating and thought provoking story. If you love mystery, you will love this book.

Rating:

My possible cast:

Elaine: Jennifer Connelly

Dan: Jake Gyllenhaal

Brodie: Kiernan Shipka

Links:

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-Child-Ann-Troup-ebook/dp/B00VKH2MG2/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1432291603&sr=1-2&keywords=The+Lost+Child 

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Child-Ann-Troup-ebook/dp/B00VKH2MG2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1432291580&sr=8-1&keywords=THE+LOST+CHILD+ANN+TROUP 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25269831-the-lost-child?ac=1 

Author Bio:

Ann Troup tells tales and can always make something out of nothing (which means she writes books and can create unique things from stuff other people might not glance twice at). She was once awarded 11 out of 10 for a piece of poetry at school – she now holds that teacher entirely responsible for her inclination to write.

Her writing space is known as ‘the empty nest’, having formerly been her daughters bedroom. She shares this space with ten tons of junk and an elderly Westie, named Rooney, who is her constant companion whether she likes it or not. He likes to contribute to the creative process by going to sleep on top of her paperwork and running away with crucial post-it notes, which have inadvertently become stuck to his fur. She is thinking of renaming him Gremlin.

She lives by the sea in Devon with her husband and said dog. Two children have been known to remember the place that they call home, but mainly when they are in need of a decent roast dinner, it’s Christmas or when only Mum will do. She also has extremely decent stepchildren.

Links:

Blog: https://anntroup.wordpress.com/ 

Twitter:https://twitter.com/TroupAnn 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anntroupauthor?fref=ts 

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