Tuesday 24 October 2017

Blog Tour: My Girlfriend's Perfect Ex-Boyfriend by Peter Jones


Today I'm delighted to be on the blog tour for Peter Jones's novel My Girlfriend's Perfect Ex-Boyfriend (no not that Peter Jones, although this one has been known to be physically attracted to a dragon or two).

You might be getting a sense of deja vu - that will be because I shared an extract a couple of weeks ago here. This post is for my review!

The Blurb

Adrian Turner, Mountaineer, Secret Agent, Fireman… Ade would dearly like to be any of these things, though he’d trade them all to win the heart of feisty Public Relations Executive, Paige.

Instead, he’s a disillusioned school teacher, on suspension, after an unfortunate incident with a heavy piece of computer equipment. And somebody’s foot. And Paige? Despite being his girlfriend for the past eighteen months, she still seems to have one foot out of the door and hasn’t quite committed to leaving a toothbrush in the bathroom.

Of course, it doesn’t help that she’s working with her ex-boyfriend, Sebastian. A man who in almost every way imaginable is better, taller, wealthier, hairier, and infinitely more successful than Ade.

Is Paige still in love with Sebastian? Why then did she suggest they get away for a few days? Some place romantic…

But when Adrian finds himself in Slovenia - with Sebastian in the room down the hall - he realises there’s serious possibility that he’s in danger of losing his job, his mind, and the woman he loves…

From best-selling author Peter Jones comes this hilarious romp about love, and the things people do to keep it from getting away.

Purchase from Amazon UK

My Review

This book just goes to show that men, far from being an alien species, are actually quite similar to women in many ways, including having feelings of inadequacy, insecurity and fear that we are constantly comparing our partners to previous partners.

This romcom, written by a man (gasp!), from a man's perspective (double gasp!), is both touching and hilarious in equal measures.

Amusingly, Adrian finds himself turning to a 15 year old pupil, of all people, for advice on his love life. Adrian's girlfriend, Paige, does seem like a bit of a cold fish, and I wonder if Adrian had 'settled' for her, with the kudos of her leaving Sebastian for him. Of course ever since that happened, Adrian has been petrified of her going back to Sebastian, especially as Sebastian can do everything and anything better than him. But that's Adrian's lack of self-confidence showing. In my opinion, Sebastian is a repulsive character and I think he and Paige are quite well-suited. I think Adrian is better than the pair of them put together, and deserves someone much nicer.

Poor old Adrian doesn't help himself though. His jealousy creeps into his life with the subtlety of a reality star. Paige is probably quite patient considering the amount of times Adrian brings up Sebastian.

The other character I loved is Nikita. Fabulous, flirty, and a great case of don't judge a book by its cover.

Peter Jones is also one of a growing number of authors who are making want to reach for my passport. Slovakia sounds beautiful!

My Girlfriend's Perfect Ex Boyfriend is an entertaining read, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

About the Author

Peter Jones started professional life as a particularly rubbish graphic designer, followed by a stint as a mediocre petrol pump attendant. After that he got embroiled in the murky world of credit card banking. Fun times.

​Nowadays, Peter spends his days writing, or talking about writing. He’s written three novels; a Rom-Com (Romantic Comedy), A Crim-Com (Crime Comedy), and a Rom-Com-Ding-Dong (a sort-of Romantic-ish Comedy, with attitude). He’s currently working on his fourth novel, which - if it’s a musical - he’ll no doubt describe as a Rom-Com-Sing-Song. (Spoiler: It isn’t).

He is also the author of three and a half popular self-help books on the subjects of happiness, staying slim and dating. If you’re overweight, lonely, or unhappy – he’s your guy.

Peter doesn’t own a large departmental store and probably isn’t the same guy you’ve seen on the TV show Dragons’ Den.

Follow Peter Jones:

Monday 23 October 2017

Blog Tour: The Bitches of Suburbia by Jane Owen


Today I'm on the blog tour for Jane Owen's book, The Bitches of Surburbia.

The Blurb

Nothing much ever happened on Horseshoe Lane - why should it? It was, after all, just a normal suburban backwater with the usual cross section of growing families, ageing pensioners, the occasional singleton and a brace of curtain twitchers. The arrival of celebrity couple, Heavenly and Travis, however, changes all that. This glamorous pair bring about a summer of competitive party throwing and ambitious home improvement projects that will have disastrous and completely unforeseen consequences. 

Neighbours who’ve got by for years with just the occasional chat over a garden fence about the unseasonable amount of rain or the state of next door’s garden are slowly united by suspicion as a husband goes missing, a much loved cat turns up dead on a doorstep and Enid from Number Seven is found badly injured at the foot of the cliff. 

Could one person be responsible for all of this? Could that person be the strange and unlikeable Hilary Jones from Number Nine? There was only going to be one way to find out and it was going to involve a lot of whiskey….

In this her wonderful follow up to ‘The Rock Star Known as Horse’, Owen’s riveting new story finds a murky side to the suburbs, a side where petty jealousies and neighbourly rivalries can escalate out of all control with calamitous results, all intricately observed with her usual dark humour firmly to the fore. 

Purchase on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2xV5TDV

My Review

I've read a couple of books about neighbours this year, so I was intrigued to read The Bitches of Suburbia.

Unfortunately most of the story is told in the blurb, not leaving much to surprise the reader.

When I started reading the book, I found myself a little put off by overly long sentences which took up half my Kindle page, and I found myself re-reading them to try to make sense of what was written. However, as I read on and got more involved with the story, I didn't notice this so much.

Horseshoe Lane; a secluded cul-de-sac of beautiful houses, fabulous cliff-top views over the sea - what a place to live! That is until we meet the neighbours...

What a nasty, petty bunch they are! They mainly keep themselves to themselves, until the arrival of glamorous couple Heavenly and Travis. After their house-warming party, the other residents decide that partying is the life, and the competition hots up to see who can be the best hostess.

Surprisingly, the character I sympathised - or pitied - most with was the 'strange and unlikeable' Hilary Jones. She's one of society's misfits, naive, gauche, and struggles with social niceties, and cannot understand why everyone else thinks they are above her. She thinks imitation is the best way to prove her worth.

Hilary reminds me a little of Eleanor Oliphant, my literary heroine of 2017. In Gail Honeyman's  book, I grew to love Eleanor's odd little ways, and there was a reason for her being as she was, and in the end her character was redeemed, with the help of her friends. Hilary, however, is not afforded the same kindness, and the events and treatment by her neighbours makes her even more disturbed.

This is written with a very dark humour, with a sense of schadenfreude and little hope of redemption for any of the characters. I felt a sense of unease the whole way through the book, and was left with a bitter taste when I finished reading it.

About the author

Jane's first novel, Camden Girls, was published by Penguin twenty years ago and quickly became an international cult bestseller published in many languages including Japanese, Spanish,German, Hebrew, Italian and Dutch. She'd already spent many years working in the film business working alongside stars such as Christophe Lambert, Andi McDowell, Daryl Hannah and James Remar before switching to the music business and working for bands such as The Who, Robert Plant, ZZTop and many more. Eventually, even that got boring and that's when she wrote Camden Girls. 

After publication, life became interrupted by an unfortunate traffic accident and Jane moved out of London to Sussex and slowly returned to writing. Her novels don't fit into any specific category and, frustrated by endless rejections along the lines of 'You write beautifully but we don't know how to sell this book' she started self publishing. Rave reviews gave her the confidence to keep going and believe in what she was writing.

She's still in Sussex, sharing her life with her musician partner, three horses and a dog and divides her day between writing and riding. 





Friday 20 October 2017

Cover Reveal: Heart Note by Cassandra O'Leary


I'm happy to be able to share with you the cover reveal for a lovely new Christmassy novella by Cassandra O'Leary - Heart Note.

Da da-da daaaaaah...


Isn't she gorgeous? This festive read will be published on 6th November 

The Blurb

Love is like a fine perfume. The top note draws you in, an instant attraction, but the Heart Note is the true essence. Like true love. A great perfume should be a woman’s perfect match.

At least, that’s what Lily Lucas tells the perfume counter customers. Personally, Lily is tired of perfumes with a sickly sweet top note that make her dizzy. She definitely does not want to stick her nose in another scent with a base note of stinky old socks. 

After leaving her home in Sydney, Lily moves to Melbourne and a new job as a perfume counter manager in a major department store. One day she wants to own a Parisian-style perfumerie, but at the moment she’s spritzing perfume on unsuspecting customers and ringing up purchases until she falls off her high heels at the end of a long day. 

The high point of Lily’s work life is Christos Cyriakos, the ex-cop senior security guard, who happens to look like a Greek god. She’d happily stare at him all day, but keeps falling at his feet like a klutz. It’s kind of embarrassing. No other man has ever had this effect on her. He smells so good up close, she gets a little woozy. But in a good way.

Rumours about Christos swirl around the department store staff. There’s a scent of scandal. The reason he quit the police force wasn’t a happy one. But he’s the strong, silent type. A mystery box. Lily hopes she can get close enough to unwrap him. When he asks for her help, it seems like the perfect opportunity to get to know him better…if she can trust him.

It’s almost Christmas and the whole store is bedecked with decorations, and Lily has to gift wrap and sell eleventy billion gift sets assisted by a team of glamorous spritzer chicks. Meanwhile sneaky guys are trying to get into the store room at night and stock is going missing. It could be an inside job. Lily helps Christos setup a sting. They are a team, sort of. But why won’t he confide in her?

She’d like to be kissed by Christos (and more) preferably not while wearing the hideous red velvet onesie and reindeer antlers all the spritzer chicks are supposed to wear. But can they solve a crime, and get it together to go on an actual date before Christmas?


About the Author

**Winner of the We Heart New Talent contest, HarperCollins UK. Nominated for BEST NEW AUTHOR in the 2016 AusRom Today Reader's Choice Awards for excellence in Australian romance fiction.**

Cassandra O’Leary is a romance and women’s fiction author, communications specialist, avid reader, film and TV fangirl and admirer of pretty, shiny things. 

In 2015, Cassandra won the We Heart New Talent contest run by Avon Books/HarperCollins UK. Her debut romantic comedy novel, Girl on a Plane, was published in July 2016. Cassandra was also a 2015 finalist in the Lone Star writing contest, Northwest Houston Romance Writers of America, and a 2014 finalist in the First Kiss contest, Romance Writers of Australia.

Cassandra is a mother of two gorgeous, high-energy mini ninjas and wife to a spunky superhero. Living in Melbourne, Australia, she’s also travelled the world. If you want to send her to Italy or Spain on any food or wine tasting ‘research’ trips, that would be splendiferous. You’ll find Cassandra online, drinking coffee and possibly buying shoes. Oh, yes. And writing.

Find Cassandra on Social Media:

Twitter – @cass_oleary

Thursday 12 October 2017

Blog Tour: Christmas at the Gin Shack by Catherine Miller



Today I am delighted to be on tour with Catherine Miller with her new novel Christmas at the Gin Shack. This follows on from The Gin Shack on the Beach, published in June this year.

The Blurb
Welcome in the festive season with love, laughter and the perfect G&T in Christmas at the Gin Shack – the most uplifting holiday read of 2017!

Gingle bells, gingle bells, gingle all the way…

Olive Turner might have lived through eighty-four Christmases, but she’ll never get bored of her favourite time of year. And this one’s set to be extra-special. It’s the Gin Shack’s first Christmas – and there’s a gin-themed weekend and a cocktail competition on the cards!

But, beneath the dazzle of fairy lights and the delicious scent of mince-pies, Olive smells a rat. From trespassers in her beloved beach hut to a very unfunny joke played on her friends, it seems that someone is missing a dose of good cheer.

Olive knows she’s getting on a bit – but is she really imagining that someone in the little seaside town is out to steal Christmas? More importantly, can she create the perfect gin cocktail before Christmas Eve – in time to save the day?

Where to buy: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Kobo

My Review

Thank you to Netgalley and HQ Digital for the chance to review the book, and to Rachel's Random Resources for signing me up to the tour.

Oh Olive, Olive, Olive. Please don't ever get old. I love the way you laugh in the face of adversity - and mobility scooters!

Yes, our intrepid octogenarian is back with a vengeance - and more fabulous gin recipes! This time she's getting ready for Christmas at the Gin Shack, including gin-themed weekends and a gin competition. But again there are obstacles; from the phantom bottom craft-itist (yes, you read that right), adversaries old and new, and old age itself.

It's heartwarming to see how the community of Westbrook Bay rallies around when there are problems. Also it is great to see how some characters from the first book have grown, proving that sometimes leopards can change their spots... or can they?

There are some wonderful laugh-out-loud moments, and Olive's unexpectedly colourful language makes me chuckle, but there are also some more serious moments, too. And nothing is more serious than gin! 

This works well as a standalone novel if you haven't read the first one, but why wouldn't you want to read it? It's shaping up to be a great series, and I sincerely hope we haven't seen the last of Olive.


About the Author

When Catherine Miller became a mum to twins, she decided her hands weren't full enough so wrote a novel with every spare moment she managed to find. By the time the twins were two, Catherine had a two-book deal with HQDigital UK. There is a possibility she has aged remarkably in that time. Her debut novel, Waiting For You, came out in March 2016. She is now the author of four books and hopes there will be many more now her twins have started school. Either that, or she’ll conduct more gin research on Olive’s behalf. 


Social Media Links – 






Wednesday 11 October 2017

Book Review: How to Stop Time by Matt Haig


The Blurb

'I am old. That is the first thing to tell you. The thing you are least likely to believe. If you saw me you would probably think I was about forty, but you would be very wrong.'

Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he's been alive for centuries. From Elizabethan England to Jazz-Age Paris, from New York to the South Seas, Tom has seen a lot, and now craves an ordinary life.

Always changing his identity to stay alive, Tom has the perfect cover - working as a history teacher at a London comprehensive. Here he can teach the kids about wars and witch hunts as if he'd never witnessed them first-hand. He can try to tame the past that is fast catching up with him. The only thing Tom must not do is fall in love.

How to Stop Time is a wild and bittersweet story about losing and finding yourself, about the certainty of change and about the lifetimes it can take to really learn how to live.

My Review

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Canongate Books for the ARC. How to Stop Time was published in July 2017, and I apologise for being so late with my review.

I have heard this book is being made into a film, with Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead role. He's going to be brilliant as Tom Hazard.

When I read this, I saw David Tennant as Tom - well, to be more accurate, Tennant's Doctor Who. Without the timelordy stuff, like travelling backwards and forwards. Poor Tom can only go forwards, in real time, which must make his life a real drag over the past nine and a half centuries, and at the heart of it, is him never getting over the loss of his love.

The narrative is interspersed with the here and now, and flashes back to earlier times. This could make the story slow down, but it doesn't - the pace is timely and constant.

I love the time Tom spends as a teacher, telling the kids stories  - not from history books but from his own perspective. How amazing would it be to hear of Shakespeare first hand? The depth of writing, the life Haig brings to the pages immersed me into Tom's world. 
  
This is a beautiful story.

About the Author

Matt Haig is a British author for children and adults. His memoir Reasons to Stay Alive was a number one bestseller, staying in the British top ten for 46 weeks. His children's book A Boy Called Christmas was a runaway hit and is translated in over 25 languages. It is being made into a film by Studio Canal and The Guardian called it an 'instant classic'. His novels for adults include the award-winning The Radleys and The Humans.

He won the TV Book Club 'book of the series', and has been shortlisted for a Specsavers National Book Award. The Humans was chosen as a World Book Night title. His children's novels have won the Smarties Gold Medal, the Blue Peter Book of the Year, been shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize and nominated for the Carnegie Medal three times. 

His books have received praise from Neil Gaiman, Stephen Fry, Jeanette Winterson, Joanne Harris, Patrick Ness, Ian Rankin and SJ Watson, among others. The Guardian summed up his writing as 'funny, clever and quite, quite lovely' by The Times and the New York Times called him 'a writer of great talent'.

Tuesday 10 October 2017

Extract: My Girlfriend's Perfect Ex-Boyfriend by Peter Jones

Genre: Romantic Comedy 
Publication Date: 10th October 2017 

Adrian Turner, Mountaineer, Secret Agent, Fireman… Ade would dearly like to be any of these things, though he’d trade them all to win the heart of feisty Public Relations Executive, Paige. 

Instead, he’s a disillusioned school teacher, on suspension, after an unfortunate incident with a heavy piece of computer equipment. And somebody’s foot. And Paige? Despite being his girlfriend for the past eighteen months, she still seems to have one foot out of the door and hasn’t quite committed to leaving a toothbrush in the bathroom. 

​Of course, it doesn’t help that she’s working with her ex-boyfriend, Sebastian. A man who in almost every way imaginable is better, taller, wealthier, hairier, and infinitely more successful than Ade. 
​ 
Is Paige still in love with Sebastian? Why then did she suggest they get away for a few days? Some place romantic… 

But when Adrian finds himself in Slovenia - with Sebastian in the room down the hall - he realises there’s serious possibility that he’s in danger of losing his job, his mind, and the woman he loves… 

From best-selling author Peter Jones comes this hilarious romp about love, and the things people do to keep it from getting away. 

Purchase from Amazon UK. Here's a little extract to whet your appetite!

In this scene, Adrian Turner (burnt out, disillusioned computer science teacher… and our hero) has unintentionally found himself on a one-night stand…
I’d never had a one night stand before. Every woman I’d ever slept with – both of them – was in the confines of a ‘relationship’; by which I mean I met someone, asked them on a date, then we’d go on another date, and another, and eventually – when we’d reached a point where we (and everyone around us) could safely assume that we were ‘seeing each other’ – one of us would ask the other if they’d like to ‘stay the night’. After that the relationship would feel cemented somehow, more permanent, and sex would occur once a week, usually with such regularity that it pretty much took care of itself. In fact, eventually it would start to feel as if we didn’t even need to be there. Which probably explains why, in both relationships, I barely noticed when it eventually stopped happening.
I’ve often wondered whether that’s why those relationships fizzled out? Whether sex is a kind of ‘cement’ that glues people together, and without it we all just drift apart. Which is an elegant sounding theory but one that, on this particular night, was steadfastly refusing to apply to my current situation; I didn’t feel particularly ‘cemented’ to the woman I’d just had sex with, and I certainly didn’t feel like we were in any kind of relationship. In fact, if anything – standing there in the sparse ensuite bathroom of whoever’s bedsit apartment this was – I was pretty sure that usual ‘one-night-stand etiquette’ meant that I was supposed to be putting my clothes back on, thanking the lady in question for an entertaining evening, and then walking out of her life. But I didn’t want to.
I really, really didn’t want to.
“So, is this your apartment?” I said, stepping back into the bedroom and glancing at the small bedsit apartment in its semi-darkness. Aside from the kitchenette area it looked more like a hotel room, complete with off-the-shelf generic paintings and robust conservatively patterned furniture.
Paige was sat on the bed, still naked, her legs pulled up to her chest, one arm wrapped around them, the other resting on her knees as she chewed on a nail, and stared into the gloom. Her mobile phone on the sheets next to her chirped briefly, and for a moment it joined the moonlight coming in through the vertical blinds, and the light from the bathroom, as the only illumination in the room.
“What?” said Paige coming out of her trance. “No! Give me some credit. It’s the company’s flat. I have a key.”
“Right,” I said.
“You didn’t think to ask me that when we came in here?” she asked.
“Er, we were kind of busy. Doing other things?” I said. And then she smiled. She actually smiled. Not the crooked smile, but a warm, playful, sexy, knowing smile. And suddenly I was acutely aware that I was just stood there, naked – and oh how I wished I’d done something more with my monthly gym membership than carry a card in my wallet!
I switched off the bathroom light, perched on the edge of the bed, and as Paige went back to staring at nothing, I slowly reached across and lightly brushed her naked hip with my fingers.
“What are you doing!?” she barked, flinching and slapping my hand away in the same movement. “Don’t tickle me!”
“So… have you.. got.. a boyfriend?” I asked. Idly. Casually. Hoping – more than anything I’d ever hoped for in my life – that the answer wasn’t ‘yes’.
“Not any more,” she said eventually. “We broke up.”
“Oh,” I said. “Recently?”
Paige let out a single, humourless laugh.
“Yeah,” she said. “You could say that.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said,
“Don’t be. He was a jack-ass,” said Paige.
“Oh. Right.”
“Which I could kinda put up with whilst I thought it was all just temporary. You know what I mean?” she said, turning to face me.
“Er, well, not really,” I said.
“Sure you do,” said Paige, resuming her nail chewing. “Guy like that is always on the look out for something better. And it’s just a matter of time before he finds it. Or her. So you tell yourself, ‘this is just for today, because he might not be here tomorrow’. And you say the same thing the following day, and the day after that, and before you know it three years have flown by. And still, that’s just fine, because – you know – it’s temporary. It’s not like you were planning on spending the rest of your life with this jerk. Even if he is quite the cook. And has a nice house in the country.
“Then all of a sudden he mentions kids. And ‘wouldn’t it be great if the two of you started a family’, and you realise – it isn’t temporary! Least not for him.”
“Right,” I said. “That must have been… awkward?”
“Ha! You bet!”
“So what did… you… say?”
Paige shrugged. “I told him straight; I can’t have kids. Not without some sort of divine intervention. I might have child bearing hips but that’s all God gave me in the way of baby-making equipment. Things went kinda sour after that.” I opened my mouth to speak, then closed it again when I realised I didn’t have a clue what to say. Paige turned to face me again. “You know it’s at times like these that I really wish I smoked,” she said. “You smoke?”
I shook my head. “Sorry,” I said. Paige jumped off the bed, walked around it and into the bathroom, only to return a moment later with her handbag.
“Here,” she said, taking a small Tupperware container out of her bag and snapping off the lid, “have one of these.” I peered into the container at the deformed, cake-like things inside.
“What are they?” I asked taking one.
“Fritters,” said Paige.
“Banana fritters?” I asked, popping it whole into my mouth.
“God no! Can’t stand bananas! Disgusting, horrible things. These are corn fritters,” said Paige, sitting herself back on the bed. “I made them last night.”
“They’re really good,” I said.
“I know,” said Paige, taking a more ladylike bite out of one. “I like you, Adrian,” she said after a moment.
“Oh well – thanks,” I said, through a mouthful of food. “I like you too.”
“D’you wanna – you know – see me again?”
I swallowed.
“Yes,” I said. “Yes. Very much.”
And with that the one-night-stand wasn’t a one-night-stand. Sex had, once again, cemented me to another person. And I was in a relationship.
Or so it seemed. 

About the Author

Peter Jones started professional life as a particularly rubbish graphic designer, followed by a stint as a mediocre petrol pump attendant. After that he got embroiled in the murky world of credit card banking. Fun times. 

Nowadays, Peter spends his days writing, or talking about writing. He’s written three novels; a Rom-Com (Romantic Comedy), A Crim-Com (Crime Comedy), and a Rom-Com-Ding-Dong (a sort-of Romantic-ish Comedy, with attitude). He’s currently working on his fourth novel, which - if it’s a musical - he’ll no doubt describe as a Rom-Com-Sing-Song. (Spoiler: It isn’t). 

He is also the author of three and a half popular self-help books on the subjects of happiness, staying slim and dating. If you’re overweight, lonely, or unhappy – he’s your guy. 

Peter doesn’t own a large departmental store and probably isn’t the same guy you’ve seen on the TV show Dragons’ Den.

Follow Peter Jones