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Book Review: Bella's Christmas Bake Off by Sue Watson

10/27/2015

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What They Say
Two best friends. One big lie. The best bake off EVER. Bella Bradley is the queen of television baking – a national treasure. Her Christmas specials have been topping the ratings for years and her marriage to Peter ‘Silver Fox’ Bradley is the stuff of Hello magazine specials. But this year things are going to be different. For Amy Lane, Bella’s best friend from school, life hasn’t held quite the same sparkle. And when Amy’s husband walks out three weeks from Christmas, it seems their lives are further apart than ever. Amy has watched Bella’s rise to fame fondly, despite the fact Bella was always a terrible cook. But when she realises that Bella’s latest Christmas book is made up entirely of Amy’s mother’s recipes, the gloves are off… After winning a competition to appear on Bella’s TV show, Amy is going to make sure that for Bella and her viewers, this will definitely be a Christmas to remember… A hilarious, heart-breaking and feel good read about best friends, baking and the magic of Christmas. 
My Review
When I first started Bella's Christmas Bake-Off, I ended up irritated at Amy. Yes, I understood that her husband had left her for a pole-dancer (not really) but to have it shoved in my face again and again actually drove me to distraction, but once Amy got Bella in her sights instead, and shut up about her not-worth-it husband, the book grew on me. Amy was very likeable, and her sparring with Bella was amazing. I love seeing two people go at it, with a bit of humour and wit and candour and it was amazing. 

Not a lot of books feature homeless people, most likely because who wants to read about homeless people because generally it just makes you sad, doesn't it? But meeting the wonderful people at St Swithin's was great. It really made me remember that not everybody has the perfect Christmas, with a tree and festivities, some barely even have a roof over their head or a hot dinner. It was important to remember that, and I liked how Amy was so desperate to get the people at St Swithin's a Christmas they could remember. 
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The book had a bit of everything really, baking (who doesn't love baking, especially as Bake Off has now finished for this year boo!!), catty fights, good banter between two former friends, the message that Christmas is not always happiness and roses, and two completely opposite female characters. A particular highlight to me was Crimson, Bella's researcher. She was amazing. I really enjoyed the book. Sue's a great storyteller and I really enjoyed this festive tale!
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Book Review: Dying To Be Slim by Abby Beverley

10/20/2015

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What They Say
By the age of eighteen, Clara finds herself a single mother to two sets of twins. With her own mother absent from early childhood and the death of her father in her late teens, food becomes Clara’s crutch. Several decades on, Clara has a new partner and a fifth child. She oozes love and pride towards her flawless family, despite the fact that she is now thirty-four stone and housebound. An unusual turn of events presents Clara with the ability to step out of her own body and, stumbling upon a problem within her 'perfect' family, Clara sets off in search of a solution. Far from finding answers, however, Clara encounters complications which question all she has ever believed to be true about her children, their partners and her man. Thrust into the world outside her cosy home, Clara becomes confused to the point where she is barely able to distinguish truth from the perceived fantasy that is slowly becoming a reality… 
My Review
Weight is ALWAYS an issue, always something people think about, and I loved how it was presented here. Wouldn't everyone like to step out of their own skin every once in a while and step into someone else's, or something better? I know I would. I would LOVE a skinny person to jump out of me the way Starla does Clara. Although while it all sounds perfectly rosy, the Waterfall family are hiding A LOT of secrets and I didn't envy Clara learning ANY of them, because literally every single one of her family members was lying or hiding something. 
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I mean that in the nicest way possible, but every member of the Waterfall family are hiding a secret and most are super obvious to any usual Chick Lit reader, the only reason the author was possibly able to get away with it is the simple fact of Clara being housebound, otherwise you would just suspect she's the most obtuse mother ever. Secret after secret tumbled out, and most were fairly obvious, but it was still a joy to read.

I very much enjoyed the book. It didn't blow me away (nothing is these days, so there's not a lot new there) but it was enjoyable and it was nice to see the world through Clara's eyes. We judge fat people very harshly, maybe that's correct; maybe not, but seeing Clara's perspective gave me a new perspective. Once you get on that slippery slope it's hard to recover. It was so nice to meet the Waterfall family, they were such an interesting bunch but they definitely loved each other deep down and I love meeting families like theirs.
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Book Review: The Woman Who Stole My Life by Marian Keyes

10/15/2015

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What They Say
One day, sitting in traffic, married Dublin mum Stella Sweeney attempts a good deed. The resulting car crash changes her life. For she meets a man who wants her telephone number (for the insurance, it turns out). That's okay. She doesn't really like him much anyway (his Range Rover totally banjaxed her car). But in this meeting is born the seed of something which will take Stella thousands of miles from her old life, turning an ordinary woman into a superstar, and, along the way, wrenching her whole family apart. Is this all because of one ill-advised act of goodwill? Was meeting Mr Range Rover destiny or karma? Should she be grateful or hopping mad? For the first time real, honest-to-goodness happiness is just within her reach. But is Stella Sweeney, Dublin housewife, ready to grasp it? 
My Review
It's been a while since I've read a Marian Keyes book and this one was definitely interesting. Stella is quite the character and I very much liked the story of her illness (which sounds horrific - you wouldn't wish for what Stella suffers from on your worst enemy), in fact I would have liked more time spent on it, except for the fact Stella's obviously stuck in the bed so it didn't really add much, but I just found her connection to Mannix Taylor so fascinating. 

It's such a silly thing to get irritated by, but I could not for the life of me understand why Jeffrey called Stella "MOM". She was not his mom, he was not American (they lived there a year! A YEAR!) and it actually drove me mad. Such a tiny thing, but it was illogical. Even before they'd moved to America, Betsy and Jeffrey called her mom and I just couldn't understand it (which is why it irritated me). Surely it's Mam in Ireland? 

The book took me a while to read and finish, but I never forgot where I was, which I see as a good sign. Books aren't holding my attention at the moment, and I remembered Stella's story very well. It hops around a little bit (before Stella's illness, during, after) but it all blends together quite well and it's a very coherent story. It's probably not my favourite Keyes book, but it kept me gripped and I'm not complaining.
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Book Review: Cover Girl by Nic Tatano

10/2/2015

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What They Say
Powerhouse romance editor Keira Madison is known as “Cover Girl” – because she’s come up with the concepts for the covers of the best selling novels in history. But right now, she’s desperate to replace her best selling author.  Wannabe author Alex Bauer has given up hope of ever selling his military thriller, so he takes a shot at writing a romance and sends it to super agent Bella Farentino. She’s blown away by the book, but more shocked to find out the author is a man. So she decides it’s best to keep it a secret when pitching the novel – what does a man know about romance after all?  When Keira buys the book, Alex needs a cover story to hide the fact he’s the real author. So he invents a fictional cousin who’s an agoraphobe; too shy to ever leave the house. He agrees to work as “her” intermediary during the editing process while getting a friend to “play” the author on the phone.One major problem. He falls hard for Keira, a spunky redhead who is a dead ringer for the heroine in the book. And she’s smitten with him, as he’s a clone of the novel’s romantic hero, a fictional Mister Right come to life.  You see where this is going. As the release date for the book gets closer, their relationship grows stronger while the tale of the fictional author goes over the top. At some point Alex will have to come clean that he’s the real author of the book but worries he’ll risk losing Keira because she won’t be able to trust him. It’s “Tootsie” meets the publishing world… without anyone getting dressed up in drag.
My Review
I'm quite the fan of Nic Tatano. He's such a talented writer and can write both Chick Lit and Young Adult, but Cover Girl didn't work for me. I'm not a fan of love triangles (or squares in the case of Lauren, Alex, Dash and Keira). It's hard to root for Alex and Keira when they're both playing the field. That's not the kind of romance I want, where they're dating others. Especially since I LOVED Lauren.

Keira was apparently this kick-ass editor, but we never saw that in her real life (or in her editing cave, to be fair). Gretchen was far more kick-ass, and even the lovely Lauren made more of an impression. In fact, I felt Lauren was wasted, she should have had her own novel.

I LOVE books about books, and I thought the plot sounded amazing, but it was sooooo wasted. I wanted to read more about a guy writing romance, I wanted to know what the reaction from the public would be (for what it's worth, I LOVE books written by ANYONE - as long as they're good, I couldn't care less what the gender is of the writer). The plot was more focused on the love square and I was so bored by it.

Overall, I was disappointed. I expected so much more and it just wasn't as good as Tatano's other novels. I actually would have preferred to read Alex's version of Ring Girl, which sounded like a really sweet, under-complicated love story. You can never under-complicate a love story and I think the main problem with Cover Girl was it was too complicated.
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