Review - United State of Love by Sue Fortin

I'm delighted today to introduce you to a fantastic debut novel by a lovely lady called Sue Fortin titled United State of Love,while I join Sue on her current blog tour. 

Set in the towns of Arundel and Chichester, Anna is a single mom and a tour guide who gets rescued by the gorgeous and hunky AmericanTex.  What she doesn't realise is that he is the new owner of a disused church which is about to be turned into a pizza restaurant, much to her disgust.

Anna's really annoying ex-husband Mark, is currently sleeping on Anna's sofa and is trying very hard to cause trouble between her and Tex and also between her and their teenage son.

Anna doesn't know which way to turn to make life easier and her feelings for Tex and her feelings for Mark are pushed to the limits in this exciting, romantic tale.   

I immediately disliked Anna's back stabbing, jealous ex-husband and found myself getting really wound up by things he did to try to spoil her life while pretending he wants to get back with her.  Sue creates her characters beautifully, you either love them or hate them, I loved both Anna and Tex and would quite like Tex to have cooked me a romantic meal!

Sue writes very descriptively, and her words flow really well with the book getting you interested from the very first few pages, leaving you constantly wondering what's going to happen.  The twists and turns along the way, leave you guessing right till the very end, how the plot will turn out and whether she'll get back with Mark or take a chance on a future with Tex.  And no - of course I'm not going to tell you!  You'll just have to buy the book and find out for yourself. 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading United State of Love and will look forward to reading lots more from this budding new author.  I was delighted to be able to meet Sue recently at a Love A Happy Ending event back in June and she's a lovely lady and I would like to wish her every success for her debut novel and for her future writing career.
Sue has lived on the South Coast in West Sussex since her mid-teenage years.  When her parents decided that they were moving back to Cambridgeshire, Sue decided to stay and has never looked back.

Before taking to writing seriously, she had various secretarial jobs, eventually settling as a PA at a high street bank, where she worked for 13 years. Finding it extremely difficult to juggle work and three children under the age of 5 she decided to give up the world of banking. She now has four children and manages to find time to write, when they are at school or work.

Sue is also a fabulous book reviewer and you can catch her reviews on her blog:

Love Reading Love Books

You can buy your copy of United State of Love by clicking on the links below:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Review - Who are the flowers in your garden by Julie New

What a beautiful, amazing book! One that I am definitely never letting go!

When I arrived home one afternoon last week, I thought it was my birthday!  A padded envelope with all sparkly stickers had been posted through the door and when I opened the envelope there was a book shaped present, beautifully gift wrapped inside. When I opened it, I discovered the book Who Are The Flowers In Your Garden? which had been sent to me by the lovely Julie New to review.

Julie asks on the back page of the book "How many roles will you play today? Parent, boss, taxi, shoulder-to-cry-on, cook and bottle washer?  When did you last take time to nurture yourself?"

I managed to add a few more job descriptions onto Julie's list and realised that like many parents, I actually don't get an awful lot of time out at all for myself. 

The back cover goes on to say "Imagine youself in a beautiful garden; you are the central tree spreading your branches in the sunshine, appreciating the lovely flowers growing all around you.  Using the powerful metaphor of the garden, this little book will help you to get in touch with those feelings".

Completely intrigued, I started to delve into this gorgeously attractive book.  The cover itself is stunningly designed, with beautiful sunflowers and other brightly colourfed flowers that hypnotise you and I had to drag myself away from being mesmerised by the cover to dip inside.

Beautifully illustrated throughout, with a question at the beginning of each chapter, the words are about nurturing yourself as you would a garden.  It helps you to get in touch with yourself, to identify the weeds in your garden and through amazing and inspirational stories, makes you want to take stock of your life and make changes to help you (in Julie's words) "start flourishing personally and professionally". 

This is an incredibly motivating book, the sort that you'll keep forever in a very handy place and keep dipping in and out of when you feel the need.   I feel incredibly honoured that this book was sent to me and will certainly be helping Julie to spread the word about this potentially life-changing, little miracle that I was sent that will brighten up mine and many other's lives. 

Julie is married to Rob, and is blessed with her own very special flowers, her daughters Amy and Polly.  After working in both nursing and midwifery, she felt that she had more to do in the world even thought she was at the time a single mom nearly at the top of the nursing ladder.  She was determined that she was going to make a difference so became a personal coach specialising in helping men and women to flourish and grow following challenging times.  After 2 years of being extremely busy, she was branded with a bright orange sunflower and the thought came to her that relationships and life itself is very much like a garden. 

You can read more about Julie at her website www.changesforever.com
You can follow Julie on Twitter
You can buy this little treasure of a book by clicking here
 

Review – Somebody to Love by Sheryl Browne

Another hilarious tale from a fabulous author who never fails to make me laugh out loud lots!  The first book of Sheryl’s that I read was only a few weeks ago, it was called Recipes for Distaster and my review can be found here. I couldn't wait to get started on this one, and once again, she has managed to produce another fantastic rib tickler!

Single Mom Donna has a bullying and cheating ex-husband and even though they’re not together anymore, he still thinks he can control her life and mess their son about as and when he feels like it.  She meets Mark, a single dad and policeman, and they hit it off immediately and would like their relationship to develop.  He wants to look after her and protect her and she wants to share her life with him. 

Mark, is keeping a secret from her though and the secret is that his son Karl is autistic.  He hasn’t told her about him yet, as in the past, people have not accepted his son and girlfriends have found it too much for them.  Unbeknown to both of them, Donna is actually helping out at the centre that Karl goes to as she really feels that helping children such as Karl is her vocation in life and she wants to do this for a full time job.

They send each other many mixed messages and there are many hilarious moments when he thinks one thing and she thinks another and they totally get their wires crossed all the time, each not really knowing how the other feels.  

This really is a wonderful story, not only is it a really lovely feel-good read, it also enabled me to learn a lot more about autism - a subject that I’ve been quite ignorant of in the past and I felt that reading about it in this way was a nice way for me to learn more.

A beautiful thing happens to Karl when he gets a “friend” who is specially trained to help him through a lot of everyday situations he normally finds difficult and the way that it is written in the book is truly heart warming and positively enchanting!

Sheryl’s writing is fabulous.  She manages to make you laugh out loud constantly and her stories are so natural and true to life.   You always feel like you’d like to meet the characters in her books, they are always so genuine and sincere and you want them to be your friends.  They are the sort of people you live next door to.   Reading about them is completely effortless, the pages turn themselves and you just can’t put the book down. 

The parts when Donna meets up with the woman that her husband went off with were just hysterical and Donna does and says everything that we probably all would want to do and say in that situation. 

Her work is always amusing and a true pleasure to read.   A wonderful reading experience which I thoroughly enjoyed!  It also has a perfect ending in my opinion, and was exactly what I wished for.

You can see the trailer for Somebody to Love and the next book Warrant for Love by clicking here.

Sheryl Browne is a mum, a business partner, a school critique partner, and a disabled dog fosterer as well as a lovely lady and fabulous author with a terrific sense of humour which comes through in her writing. She grew up in Birmingham and studied art and design and now lives in Droitwich in the Midlands.

Find out more about Sheryl and her writing at www.sherylbrowne.com
Her blog can be read http://sheryls-ramblings.blogspot.co.uk/
You can follow Sheryl on Twitter
You can like Sheryl on Facebook
You can buy this book via Amazon by clicking here

Summer Reads by Sheryl Browne

Not sure what to read this summer?  I'm sure this trailer will help. 

Very soon I will be posting my review of Somebody to Love by Sheryl Browne.  Ahead of that review, I thought I'd just show you the fabulous trailer which is available, highlighting Somebody to Love as well as the next of Sheryl's books - Warrant for Love.

She's a fabulous writer, and I guarantee you lots of laughs!

Check out the trailer and feel free to post a comment below letting us know what you think.

Thanks, Kim xxx

Review - Chelsea Wives by Anna-Lou Weatherley

A fabulously glamorous story of three high-profile ladies, all married to exceptionally rich men, spending their lives enjoying endless champagne lunches and spa days, shopping for designer outfits to die for, living flash party lifestyles and holidaying on huge yachts. 

Firstly there’s Imogen, a beautiful ex-model married to Sebastian, a bully who likes her to be beholden to him and doesn’t want to share her with anyone else, not even their daughter.  Then there’s Calgary who is married to Douglas, a womanising cheat who expects her to put up with his philandering ways even when his latest conquest is extremely close to home.  Finally there’s Yasmin (Lady Belmont), who seems to have appeared from nowhere and has married Jeremy, a man old enough to be her grandfather.  Everyone wonders whether she really loves him or whether there is a motive in her madness. 

All three women, on the outside, appear to be content with their lot, but each of them are living in marriages that make them seriously unhappy.  They are a very close, small group of friends, and when one of them tells the others that she has devised a plan to outwit her husband once and for all, they say that they want to be involved too, all for their own different reasons which could finally give them them all the life that they wish for.  Will they get the better of their other halves, or does this mad scheme go wrong and destroy their lives?  It could go fabulously right, but if not, the consequences don’t bear thinking about!

The glamour and money that the people in this book experience, is a world away from my own, and it is really enjoyable to read about and also to imagine what it would be like to be filthy rich, living a life I’ll only ever be able to dream of. 

It also goes to show you that no matter how much money you do have, it doesn’t always make you happy and that sometimes it’s just the simple things in life, that money can’t buy, that can make you content.

The author weaves a sensational tale of life, love, loss and friendship.  The type of friendship where you would do anything at all to help your friends, no matter what! 

The twists and turns along the way are thoroughly exciting and absolutely enjoyable, and at times surprising, leaving you constantly wanting to read more about these fabulously feisty, gutsy, determined women.   You want to be on their side and if I could have, I would have helped them myself!  You willed them to succeed in their plotting and planning and had to hold your breath when it came to crunch time to see how it panned out. 

Chelsea Wives was an extremely entertaining read, a real compelling page-turner with lots of fun and wit thrown in for good measure.

Anna-Lou Weatherley was born in Hampshire and grew up in London where she still lives with her partner and two children.  An award-winning journalist and women’s lifestyle writer for over fifteen years, she is the former editor and acting editor of J-17 and Smash Hits respectively and has written for all the major glossies including Grazia, More, Company and Marie Claire among others. 

She is the author of two teen titles, Ibiza Summer and The Wrong Boy.  Chelsea Wives is her first adult novel.

You can like Chelsea Wives on Facebook

You can follow Anna-Lou on Twitter

You can buy this book via Amazon by clicking here

I'm delighted to welcome a lovely lady and friend to my blog who is launching an ebook today.  She is a beautiful person both inside and out, and I am delighted and grateful that our paths have crossed in this life. 

For a change, I'm going to be quiet in this blog post, and handover to Kate to tell you all about her book.   We'd love your comments, and for you to share this post if you get a second.   Thanks - over to you Kate! x

'the gorgeous Kate Beddow

Growing Spirit Kids'

“I am blessed”

This is a phrase which occurs so frequently in my life and it isn’t a coincidence I’m sure. I am blessed to have a wonderful support network and a loving family. I am blessed to be healthy and happy after serious illness. I am blessed to have two beautiful children after I was told I wouldn’t be able to have any. I am blessed that I was given the gifts I was and the guidance I needed to see that they combine to make me a unique and special person who can help many others.

This might sound like a very big headed statement but the same is true of all of us. We are all given a unique combination of personality traits and life experiences which combined make us who we are and therefore what we offer the world. This is as true for our children as it is for us and perhaps even more so. As we grow we are moulded by expectations, peer pressure, image, the press, our career choices, friends, families... the list is endless but children are pure bundles of light without a single thumb print on their soul, just wide eyes and an abundance of love. They are pure and vulnerable and as parents and society it is our responsibility to make sure they stay that way and protect them as much as possible.

When I realised it was my life’s purpose to focus my healing work on children and families it was like a light went on in my heart, I have never embraced any “job” more passionately or with as much enthusiasm. I have always worked with children; as a teacher, a Brownie leader, a childminder, a Mum... and never realised what a huge part of my life children have always been and becoming a mum made me even more aware of how unique and precious children are.

My new ebook “Living with a Sensitive: a guide to understanding and nurturing your highly sensitive child” was inspired by my own children and watching how with the same gene pool, the same parenting style and you would think therefore both nature and nurture in common,  they are like chalk and cheese about most things. 

The thing I found most fascinating when observing their behaviour was the realisation that they are both equally sensitive; both caring, nurturing, observant and yet so very different. One will happily eat anything while the other is more fussy about food, one will make mud pies all day and the other doesn’t like to be dirty and neither like scratchy fabrics against their skin. It made me really start to analyse the types of sensitivity and question whether they could both be deemed “highly sensitive”. I read a couple of books but they were long and very academic and it occurred to me that most parents would never sit down to read something so wordy, most wouldn’t even realise that it would benefit them to do so so I set about writing my own book. A very basic guide to explain to parents what to look out for and how to make things more bearable for their child once they have.

If this book helps families and makes life a little easier for children and parents alike, I am blessed.

To buy Living with a Sensitive: www.katebeddow.co.uk/#/ebooks/4565093129

For more information about Kate’s work go to: www.katebeddow.co.uk.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/GrowingSpiritKids

Twitter: www.twitter.com/Growingspirit

Review - A Twist of Fate by Joanna Rees

WOW! What an incredible book!

Two beautiful baby girls were sold for cold hard cash, their fate decided on the flip of a coin.  One gets to end up having a really tough time, fighting for her soul and her life, in an East European orphanage run by vile and evil bosses and the other gets to end up with a moneyed family, living a life of luxury, mansion houses and ostentatious holidays.

The book swaps between a chapter about Romy, then one about Thea; their lives totally different but they do actually cross paths a few times throughout the years without them realising.  They both felt that there was something missing from their lives but neither knew what it was. 

Both of their lives are full of terrible secrets, guilt, blackmail and even murder.  Both girls having to live with their secrets burying them deep away, too scared for anyone to ever find out the truth. These secrets affected their lives drastically and neither feel that they can carry on carrying the burden of their past. 

I settled myself on the settee yesterday morning (Saturday) to start this book..  After just the first few pages, I was totally and utterly mesmerised and set to remain there for most of the day.  Luckily for me, I have a bad back at the moment, and that means that I’m not allowed to do much on the housework front.  What a great excuse for not shifting my backside for the whole day!  My nose was firmly stuck in this book, my backside firmly wedged in the sofa, and I only moved when I needed the loo or a drink! 

I lost count of how many moments this book left me open-mouthed and lost for words!  I wish I'd have had a £1 for every time I said "Oh my God!" - I'd be a very rich reviewer!

I found myself wanting to shout at the characters when they ended up at the same place, that their sister was there, and that they just needed to turn around and they would see each other.  Not that it would have made any difference as neither of them knew that they had lost a sister!  But I was getting quite frustrated. 

It was a thick book, over 500 pages, but each page just floated on past and I managed to get to the 400 page mark last night before my painkillers kicked in and I nodded off! This morning, I woke early before the rest of the house, and my first thought was to find out what was happening in their lives.  I came downstairs and made myself a cuppa and continued to read this wonderful story.   

My tea was cold by the time I remembered it was there so I made myself another one and carried on reading.  It was only when I finished the book and tweeted the author to tell her how fantastic I thought it was, that I realised that I’d forgotten to drink that one too!

I intensely hated one specific character in Thea’s life, from the moment I was introduced to him; a particularly nasty piece of work. 

I felt so protective of these two plucky, strong, amazing women who in very different ways and lives, had experienced such atrocities and such sadness and hurt that they SO did not deserve!  They had much love and loss throughout their lives that you felt every single emotion that they were going through like it was actually happening to you and cutting through you like a knife. 

The story had so many twists and surprises along the way and it was so cleverly written that it was completely un-put-downable! It was without doubt, one of the best books I've ever read!  I'm sure, and I hope, that it will be a huge success for this outstanding author and it will be extremely well deserved. 

It wasn’t until I read the bio about Jo that I realised that I’ve read her work before when she co-wrote with Emyln Rees.  If you’ve never read any of these books, you really should! They are awesome. 

Jo Rees grew up in Chelmsford before getting an English and Drama degree at Goldsmiths' College. After several bizarre jobs, including running her own sandwich delivery business and writing promotions for the back of Sugar Puffs boxes, It Could Be You, was published in 1997 under her maiden name, Josie Lloyd, and enabled her to meet fellow novelist, Emlyn Rees. Together they wrote Come Together, a twenty-something rom-com, which became a number one Sunday Times bestseller and was translated into 26 languages. They went on to co-write six more successful novels, and along the way got married and had three kids.

In 2007 Jo went solo and wrote Platinum, followed by Forbidden Pleasures in 2010. Jo also writes a light-hearted blog about her life as a novelist and mother in Brighton called mumwritesbooks.com, which is one of the top ten Times mummy blogs. A Twist of Fate is her eleventh novel.

Follow Joanna on Twitter

You can read Joanna's blog by clicking here

You can buy this book via Amazon by clicking here