Thursday 30 November 2017

Return to the Regency - A Regency Time Travel Romance by Audrey Harrison (2017)


She has a broken heart. He has a secret. Could their love story be bigger than time itself?

Catherine wishes the last year never happened. After losing her mother and her marriage in quick succession, each day is a brand new struggle. When her ex-husband drags her kids halfway across the world, she visits the Bath Christmas Market, just hoping to put something good in her life. She never expected find a gateway to the past…
Chris still can't believe his eyes. After traveling back in time 200 years to Regency Bath, he's captivated by a world where men are gallant and manners mean something. Amidst the fun and games of a time past, a future with Catherine may be just the thing he's looking for…
Catherine is drawn to Chris too, but when a Regency fortune hunter attempts to woo her heart, everything is called into question. Will their relationship stand the test of time when the magic of the Christmas market eventually fades away?
Return to the Regency is a time travel Regency romance topped with a generous dose of humour, action, and tears. If you like simmering chemistry, fast-paced adventures, and trips back in time, then you'll love Audrey Harrison's Christmas tale.

Review 

I really love time travel romances set in the Regency period so I was thrilled to see one of my favourite authors dipping into this sub-genre.

I thought it was fantastic that she put a twist in her time travel story. Where this book differs from other Regency time travel stories is the possibility for her characters to freely travel back and forth between the Regency period and the present day. I liked that Catherine didn't have to leave her friends and family behind permanently in order to have a grand, romantic adventure in Regency Bath. 

There is plenty of excitement and drama as Catherine soon finds herself caught up in the affairs of new friends and the target of a fortune hunter. I loved the characters that populated Regency Bath. 
I thought Catherine and Chris made a lovely couple and I really felt for them when things took a dramatic and emotional turn when their time in the Regency period came to an end. The conclusion to their story was very romantic and it left me with a smile on my face.

A very enjoyable and highly recommended read.

Buy Links Amazon  Only 99p for Kindle or Free with Kindle Unlimited.

Wednesday 29 November 2017

The Bride Who Got Lucky (The Cavensham Heiresses #2) By Janna MacGregor






He would do anything to protect her. Even marry her… 

The son of a cold-hearted duke, Nicholas St. Mauer isn’t one to involve himself in society…or open his own heart to anyone. But driven by honour, the reclusive Earl of Somerton feels obliged to keep a watchful eye on Lady Emma Cavensham. She possesses a penchant for passions unbecoming a woman that finds Nick in constant peril of losing his well-structured solitude. She even dared kiss Nick once―an utterly unladylike, and delightful, lapse...

Emma can’t deny the appeal of the earl’s attention, and occasional affection, but she has no need for a man. There are worse fates than spinsterhood, as Emma knows too well. She still mourns the loss of her dear friend Lena, and is determined to prove Lena’s husband responsible for her death before he lures another innocent woman into a brutal marriage. But as Emma pursues her prey, a compromising moment upends all her plans. Now, with gossip swirling and her reputation in tatters, Nick may be the only man brave enough to join in Emma’s cause.. and fight for her heart.


Review 





A charming friends to lovers historical romance. Emma and Nicholas make an adorable couple. I love how feisty and independent Emma is and how Nicholas doesn't hesitate in interfering with her plans and joining in her schemes in his attempt to keep her from harm. there was no end of drama which I found greatly entertaining.

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Monday 27 November 2017

The Break by Marian Keyes (2017)


Amy's husband Hugh isn't really leaving her.

At least, that's what he promises. He is just taking a break - from their marriage, their children and, most of all, from their life together. For six-months Hugh will lose himself in south-east Asia, and there is nothing Amy can say or do about it.

Yes, it's a mid-life crisis, but let's be clear: a break isn't a break up - yet . . .

It's been a long time since Amy held a briefcase in one hand and a baby in the other. She never believed she'd have to go it alone again. She just has to hold the family together until Hugh comes back.

But a lot can happen in six-months. When Hugh returns, if he returns, will he be the same man she married? And will Amy be the same woman?

Because falling in love is easy. The hard part - the painful, joyous, maddening, beautiful part - is staying in love.


'A born storyteller' Independent on Sunday


'When it comes to writing page-turners that put a smile on your face and make you think, Keyes is in a class of her own' Daily Express


Review 


A wonderfully funny and feel good romantic story. 
At 568 pages it is quite a hefty tome but the story rollicks along pretty quick and I found myself pulled into the story from the very first line. Thereafter I spent every waking moment possible reading until it was finished.
I'm not a fan of contemporary chick lit and this was my first Marian Keyes novel but I can say now that I've dipped my toes in I wouldn't hesitate in picking up another title by the author.

A good escapist read by a gifted storyteller.

Buy Links Amazon


Sunday 26 November 2017

Operation Trumpsformation, Ross O'Carroll-Kelly (2017)



'Our nation's great satirist ... the most sustained feat of comic writing in Irish literature' Irish Times
It's the end of the world as Ross knows it ... this time, there's no way of escaping another monumental fock-up!
Sorcha had thrown me out of the family home - this time apparently for good. And yet that was the least of my worries ...
My old dear was in prison, accused of murdering her second husband. My sons were showing an unhealthy interest in - someone call social services - soccer! And my daughter wanted everyone to call her Eddie. But don't even go there!
On top of all that, a blond wig discovered in a dusty attic, had given my old man delusions of power. Suddenly, he was running for election, promising to tear up the bailout deal and take Ireland out of Europe. And that's to say nothing of his secret plan for Ireland's second city ...
But shush! Don't mention the wall!

Review 

If you want to give the gift of fun and laughter this Christmas then you go won't go wrong with the latest Ross O Carroll Kelly book. 
Thoroughly entertaining, hilarious, witty and sharp. The series has lost none of its edge.

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 Kennys   An independent Irish bookshop offering Free Worldwide delivery.

Romancing the Scot by May McGoldrick (2017)

Description

Sunday 19 November 2017

Winter's Return: Guy Winter Mysteries #4 by James Philip (2015) Narrated by Melanie Fraser (2017)


Publisher's Information

Winter's Return is the fourth full-length Guy Winter mystery. It is set in England in the Second World War in the third month of the devastating night Blitz which followed the defeat of the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain. 
In Winter's Return Guy Winter returns to London, a city at once reeling under the relentless nightly bombardment, yet oddly growing ever more accustomed to the ongoing nightmare. 
Shunned and unwanted by Scotland Yard, the Mystery Man - a sobriquet earned long before the war because he was the man the Yard turned to solve the mysteries no other man could resolve - is assigned to S Division in Hampstead. However, his exile is short-lived. 
Within days he and his faithful sergeant, George Ransom, are heading for the English Midlands, where on a country estate a few miles south of Coventry, Helen Chase, the nation's most famous actress, has been grievously wounded in an apparent orgy of mindless violence that has claimed several other lives in the most bizarre and gruesome of circumstances. 
Little does Guy Winter suspect that no matter how far he travels from London, the ghostly echo of the Whitechapel Murders of 1888, the machinations of his former MI5 associates, and the extraordinary revelations of an exotic German spy captured six weeks before in Scotland, will eventually catch up with him. 
But before he must confront one fate, he must confront other demons in the fires consuming Coventry, the "city of spires". 
Please be aware - cliff-hanger ending!




Review rating 

This fourth instalment of the Guy Winter series is certainly full of mystery and suspense. Murder and mayhem abound which makes for thrilling reading. The cliffhanger ending came quite abruptly but the high drama ensures that I will be reading the concluding episode, Winter's Spy, as soon as possible.

There is quite a bit of historical information at the beginning of the book regarding the origins of New Scotland Yard which I found very interesting. The detail surrounding the blitz was also well done and I liked how the author brought the social impact of the bombings into the story line. We get a real sense of the hardships faced by people who lost their homes and the community spirit that developed as people banded together to help one another out.

Again, Melanie Fraser gives a flawless performance. There is such quality and clarity to her voice I really feel like I have stepped back in time as I listen to this series.


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