Review - White Wedding by Milly Johnson

For those of you who know me or have read my reviews, or even my “about me” page, you probably already know that one of my favourite authors is Milly Johnson and I’ve read all her books to date.  I’ve also been so lucky to get to know Milly a little since I started my blog just over a year ago and interviewed her last year. 

When I received my copy of White Wedding I couldn’t wait to get started to see if I enjoyed it as much as all of her other books.  I absolutely did! It came one day, I started it the next and finished it the next, not happy until I put it down completed!

White Wedding is about three girls – Bel, Max and Violet who meet at Freya’s wedding dress shop called White Weddings and with imminent wedding days looming they all have their own stories to tell.   Freya promises them all that their dresses will make them happy! But will they? 

Firstly there is Bel, who is marrying Richard, she is quietly arranging her wedding but doesn’t seem to be the happy blooming bride to be, yet is not able to share her reasons with her new friends. 

Then there is Max, a high flying businesswoman, marrying Stuart, who after 17 years of being together, wants the quietest wedding possible yet Max has other ideas and is secretly planning the wedding of her dreams!

Violet is with Glyn, and has been somewhat railroaded into getting married.  She doesn’t love Glyn anymore but will she be able to pluck up the courage to tell him, or will she go through with it to keep everyone else happy?

White Wedding is the story of these three fabulous, courageous and adorable ladies.  It’s above love and friendship.  It’s about right and wrong.  It’s about love being the only reason you should be marrying someone and that if you’re not happy, you shouldn’t go through with it.  And it’s about finding love in the most unexpected places, at the most unexpected times and with the most unexpected people. 

Milly’s writing for me, just keeps on getting better and better.  Her books delve into your soul searching for answers about what you would do in certain situations.   Her nonstop laugh out loud humour made this book SO entertaining with wit and sarcasm pouring out in its droves.   

 I found myself sneaking off at every moment possible to pick up this book and was secretly delighted when my son decided to have an early night and I got the chance to spend a good couple of out of the blue hours with my nose firmly stuck in this book. 

The ending was fabulously perfect – just as I would have wanted it to turn out and I can’t recommend this book enough.  It’s a great fun read, with a lot of emotional moments, laughs and deep routed issues and topical situations explored with lots of twists and turns along the way.  As you may have gathered by now I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!  Well done Milly – you are amazing – don’t ever change! And please don’t ever stop writing!

Milly Johnson is a half Glaswegian Barnsley bird and writes part-time for a greetings card company. She discovered the enjoyment of comedy script-writing whilst studying drama and education at Exeter University and in between working in various jobs – ie: teaching, trainee accountancy, barmaid, receptionist, sales, working for various psychopaths in offices, she spent my spare time writing poems and jokes for pin-money and working on a large, glossy novel. While she received rejection letters, she was encouraged to continue writing and not long after her 40th birthday she wrote a novel about clutter clearing (A Spring Affair), one of my most favourite books of all time.  The story goes on from there but please take a trip over to www.millyjohnson.co.uk to find

out more about Milly and her writing and other escapades.

You can buy this book via Amazon by clicking here.

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Review - Switched by Amanda Hocking

What a fabulously enticing and engrossing book!

Based in America, Wendy Everly is a troublesome young girl and has moved schools to yet another new town.  A guy called Finn at school keeps staring at her all the time but she doesn’t know why! Wendy has always known she is different; when she was just six years old her mom tried to kill her, saying that she was a monster and had been switched at birth. Her Mom was taken away and put in a psychiatric hospital so Wendy ended up living with her brother and aunt.

She knows that she had a special power of persuasion and that if she tries really hard she can get people to do things that she wants them to. Doesn’t know how she does this, or why, but she knows she can.  This is her secret! Or so she thought!

She finds Finn physically attractive if not a little weird, especially when one night she finds him hovering outside her window and he breaks the news to her that she is a Trylle (otherwise known as a troll) and that her mother was right and she was switched at birth. He tells her that she has to leave what she thinks is her family to return to her home land and become the person that she really is! From here, her world is completely turned upside down!

What a fabulous book!  I was SO engrossed in it and really enjoyed reading this paranormal young adult book – it made a refreshing change from the books I’ve recently read.  I disappeared into this amazing world of fantasy and felt Wendy’s emotions as she struggled with what she wanted to do, and what she was told she must do.  Her whole word had been shattered and she was trying to come to terms with that along with her unexpected feelings for Finn as a young lady.   

The characters were perfectly formed with personalities that were easy to become intertwined with and the descriptive way that the author painted the surroundings made it easy to form pictures in your mind.

It was gripping, exciting, full of adventure and fantasy and just great.   Written by the very talented Amanda Hocking who must have the most wonderful and inventive imagination, this is the first in a trilogy.   I’m really looking forward to reading the others - Torn and Ascend.  I almost forgot to say that the covers are really attractive and draw you in too!

Amanda Hocking is a lifelong Minnesotan obsessed with John Hughes and Jim Henson. In between making collages and drinking too much Red Bull, she writes young adult urban fantasy and paranormal romance.

To learn more you can follow her on Twitter

You can like her on Facebook

You can also visit her blog: http://amandahocking.blogspot.com  and www.worldofamandahocking.com and she is soon to launch www.trylleseries.com. 
 
You can buy this book via Amazon by clicking here  

Review - The Charm Bracelet by Melissa Hill

Last week I had the pleasure of reading and reviewing Something From Tiffany's by Melissa Hill.  My review can be found by clicking here. 

As I loved it so much, I decided to pick up The Charm Bracelet to read next to see if it was as good!  It SO was! It was a complete and utter fairytale.
 
Single Mom Holly works in a vintage dress store in New York. One day when looking through an item of clothing which was taken to the store, Holly finds something tucked away in an inside pocket. There she discovers a beautiful charm bracelet very similar to the one she has herself. Because Holly’s charm bracelet contains a whole catalogue of her life with an individual charm marking the very special occasions that have happened to her, she wants to return this charm bracelet to its rightful owner. She starts to hunt across New York to find its owner and return this amazing piece of jewellery using and deciphering the charms as clues. 
 
Meanwhile across town, Greg decides to pack in his job as a high flying stockbroker to become the photographer that he has always wanted to be, much to the disappointment of his girlfriend Karen. He decides to make this up to her in the only way he can think of! When he realises that his mother's charm bracelet is missing, he tries to trace its steps and find this piece of jewellery which he clearly knows means a lot to his mum.
 
This was one of the most delightful, pleasurable books I think I have probably ever read. It was full of romance, love, history, nostalgia; it was just sheer and pure delight!   Each charm tells its own individual story both for Holly and for the owner of the mystery bracelet and it was lovely to learn where and why they had originated. 
 
Melissa Hill has such an amazing way of creating characters and lives and places that make you just throw yourself into the whole of the book and become part of the story.
 
And I do so love it when a fairy tale comes true.  I had a few moments where I caught my breath while reading this amazing story. It was a very emotional book particularly when reading the story from the view of Greg's mother, who was suffering from cancer, a story which I could relate to as this nasty disease is the thief who stole my mom away from me!
 
A beautiful story, fabulously told, and an absolute dream come true with a perfect ending. A book which was exactly as I like a book to be. One that takes you away from the here and now and whisks you away  into a world full of promise, sparkly magic and fairytales. Maybe not every girl's ideal but certainly mine. 

Melissa Hill lives with her husband Kevin, their daughter Carrie and their dog Homer in Monkstown, Co Dublin. Her previous books including The Last To Know, Before I Forget, Please Forgive Me and The Truth About You have all been bestsellers and are widely translated.

You can find out more about Melissa at her website www.melissahill.info

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Review - Something From Tiffany's by Melissa Hill

On Christmas Eve in New York Ethan buys a very expensive engagement ring from Tiffany's for girlfriend Vanessa who he feels is ready to be his wife and mother to his daughter Daisy since his beloved wife Jane had passed away.  Meanwhile, Gary also visits the store to buy a present that doesn't cost too much for his girlfriend Rachel and decides on a nice, but cheaper end of the market charm bracelet.

When Ethan leaves the store, he comes across Gary who has had an accident in the street and while helping him, gets his daughter Daisy to gather Gary’s shopping together which is then taken off to hospital with him.
Moving onto Christmas Day, Vanessa opens her gorgeous blue box from Tiffany’s, and she discovers a lovely charm bracelet! Lovely, but Ethan is devastated when he realises it’s not the ring he was going to propose with but he and Daisy hide their shock well.  When Rachel goes routing through Gary’s parcels, while he is unconscious in hospital, to her delight, she discovers a very expensive engagement ring.  When Gary comes round from and gives her the blue box, he nearly has a heart attack to see a very expensive engagement ring and is kind of forced into proposing to Rachel.
On their return from New York, Ethan sets about getting his ring back, but the ring seems to have a mind of it’s own and the story goes on from there.

This was such an enjoyable story, you did actually worry for Rachel as Gary is a bit of a lad and none of her friends or business partner think he’s very good to her and think it’s very bizarre that Gary has spent a great deal of money on this present not trusting him at all yet Rachel will have nothing said against him.  I’m sure we all know someone who has been in a relationship like this at some point in our life.  Do you shatter their happy dreams with what you think is the truth, or not be the one to hurt them and let them find out on their own?

This is a story about friendship, people’s feelings and love and that sometimes what you think is the right thing to do isn’t always the right thing to do.

Melissa Hill is a wonderful author, injecting humour, love, a few unexpected moments and lots of sparkly magic into this book, with a happy ending even if it was not the one that I had anticipated!  This was a wonderful feel-good book, that I couldn’t put down and really really enjoyed.  I’m off now to read Melissa’s next book The Charm Bracelet – after reading this one – I cannot wait!
Melissa Hill lives with her husband Kevin, their daughter Carrie and their dog Homer in Monkstown, Co Dublin.  Her previous books including The Last To Know, Before I Forget, Please Forgive Me and The Truth About You have all been bestsellers and are widely translated.

You can find out more about Melissa at her website www.melissahill.info

You can like her on facebook by clicking here

You can follow her on twitter by clicking here

You can buy this book by clicking here

Review - The Camera Never Lies by Tess Daly

I really wan't sure what to expect from this as sometimes when a celebrity brings out a book it is not always the best.  It seems wrong that a great deal of authors have to work so very hard to have a book accepted by publishers, that certain celebrities are privileged and seen to be automatically given a chance based on who they are.  However, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would definitely read more of Tess’s work.  She appears to be a talented writer. 
 
Britt Baxter is a model and when she given the news that she is probably too old and too fat to be a successful model anymore she has to take other jobs just to pay her rent.  While she is waitressing at a TV event she is spotted by a producer who takes a shine to her and she is invited to do a screen test. This is successful, the camera loves her and she is taken on to do a fashion slot on a well-known breakfast show.  As her fame grows Britt is invited to lots of parties, functions and events and is seen in all the top magazines and is certainly in the limelight.  The press and the public love her and becomes a different Britt to the one that her loved ones know.  But one day she picks up a newspaper and a story that she is not expecting has appeared and she is devastated. Somebody has betrayed her, but she does not know who that person is and no longer knows who she can and can’t trust.  
I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was incredibly entertaining with lots of glamour and tons of laughs thrown in (particularly the incident on the Japanese tube! – that was gross and hilarious at the same time!)  It was extremely easy to get into, a really quick and fun read and it left you wanting to know what happens to the characters.
 
It’s interesting when a TV star write a book about TV and it’s stars, especially when it focuses on a breakfast programme.  I don’t think I’ll ever be able to watch Daybreak in the same light ever again! It certainly leaves you wondering what bits of the book are fiction and what is fact. I guess we'll never know and part of the fun is trying to work that out for ourselves!  I would definitely recommend this as a great read. 
 
Tess Daly worked as a model 10 years before moving to New York to write for the likes of Paper Magazine. She made her first TV appearance on the Big Breakfast in 2000 and has gone on to present numerous shows including nine series of Strictly Come Dancing. She writes a weekly fashion column for The Mirror and has their own award winning Daly Beauty Range. This is her debut novel following publication of the Baby Diaries in 2010 which documents her journey through motherhood. Tess Daly is mom to 2 daughters Phoebe and Amber.

Review - The Book Of Summers by Emylia Hall

Probably the most beautiful looking book I've ever read!  The cover is just gorgeous and inside there are scrolly flowers on the first few pages enticing you in to this delightful book!

Beth gets an unexpected phone call from her father to say that he's coming to visit her which is very out of character for him and their relationship. When he turns up he hands her a parcel on which she recognises the writing but is totally adamant that she does not want to see what is inside! She argues with him and sends her father away yet when he goes the parcel is left behind. Eventually she opens it and discovers that her long-estranged Mother has passed away but her Mother's partner Zoltan has sent her a scrapbook that she had put together.

It contained photos and keepsakes and many wonderful memories from the seven summers they spent together following her parents splitting up when her Mom decided that she needed to move back to her home country Hungary. These memories sparked her interest and got her thinking of these amazing times that she had in Hungary with her Mother and Zoltan but it also drudged up the reasons why she then lost touch which brought up all the love, hurt and anger all over again!

What a glorious book this was to read! The way that Emylia Hall writes paints an intense, bright and colourful picture of Hungary that makes the place come alive.

Her descriptions of food made you want to devour the meal that had been placed on the table, you could smell the delicious cooking aromas wafting before your nose and imagine yourself sat at the same table with this dysfunctional family enjoying the very precious time that they spent together.

You could understand and feel every single one of Beth's emotions as she battled internally with the intense love she felt for both of her parents and how she coped with growing into adulthood and coping with two separate lives.  She tried to protect her father while at the same time being infatuated with and totally in awe of her mother.

With quite a twist towards the end, which was most unexpected, it kept the plot fresh and extremely interesting.  I completely lost myself to this book, it was a wonderful read and I felt emotionally exhausted by the end. And I think that's the sign of a fabulous book!

Emylia Hall was born in 1978 and grew up in the Devon countryside. She was the daughter of an English artist and Hungarian quilt-maker. After studying at York University and in Lausanne, Switzerland, Emylia spent five years working in a London advertising agency before moving to the French Alps. It was while she was there that she began to write. Emylia now lives in Bristol with her husband who is also an author. The Book Of Summers is inspired by evocative memories of her own childhood days spent in rural Hungary.

You can find out more about Emylia Hall at www.EmyliaHall.com

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Review - The Stag and Hen Weekend by Mike Gayle

I've read a lot of Mike Gayle's books and have loved them all. This was no exception. The Stag and Hen weekend is - how do I describe it - two books for the price of one maybe! This was the most unusual book I've ever read! One half is about the Stag Weekend, then you turn it upside down and over and read about the Hen Weekend, or you can choose to read the Hen Weekend first.  It doesn't matter which you choose first.  This book is told as if it is two separate stories with common characters in each so the person reading the story gets to choose which story they read first. 

Confused? Don't be, it's a fabulous concept! I chose to read the Stag Weekend first which is about Phil who is really not looking forward to his weekend away before his marriage to Helen.  He takes off to Amsterdam with his best mates who are all in their late 30s and while Phil would rather it be a weekend about culture and fine dining and sharing it with Helen, his friends want to get as drunk as they possibly can and pick up girls. Phil bumps into one particular woman who he recognises from somewhere and when he realises where he recognises her from it turns out that they have a lot more in common than they ever thought possible.

Helen meanwhile has gone to a spa in the Peak District with her greatest friends, the only blot on the landscape is the fact that Phil's sister Caitlin will also be joining her. They have never got on and Helen does not really know why she invited Caitlin and Caitlin accepted the invitation.  When Helen runs into her ex fiance who also happens to be the man who she once loved enough to accept a marriage proposal then at the last minute, found out had cheated on her so the wedding never went ahead, it was a massive surprise to her. It brought back a lot of memories for her and got her thinking about whether she still had feelings for him.  Is it coincidence that she has run into him on her hen weekend or is it some great detective work on his part?

Again another cracking book from Mike Gayle. A fabulous storyteller with tons of humour, fun, friendship and tears along the way. I am a massive fan of Mike's writing and have loved every single book he has brought out. He has an amazing way of tugging at your heartstrings and putting a smile on your face at the same time.  His characters are wonderfully portrayed, easy to picture and this book like his others was so easy to read. 

Friendship is an important theme throughout the book, the girls are all very close and so are the boys in their own ways. 

I was a little surprised that you never got to find out how the story ended because I'm a person who likes loose ends tied up.  This didn't spoil my enjoyment though.  It was highly entertaining and I expect that the purpose of this is so that you can decide the ending for yourself. 

Mike Gayle is happily married and lives in Birmingham with his wife and two children. Mike was an agony uncle in a previous life and who now works as a freelance journalist and contributes to the number of publications including FHM the Sunday times and cosmopolitan. the stag and hen weekend is Mike's 10th book and together they have sold over 1 million copies in the UK. 

You can read more about Mike and his other fabulous reads at www.mikegayle.co.uk

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You can buy The Stag and Hen Weekend via Amazon