Thursday 28 November 2019

Book Review: Love Songs for Sceptics by Christina Pishiris


Thank you to the author, Netgalley and of course the publisher, Simon & Schuster, for the advance reading copy of Love Songs for Sceptics, the utterly fabulous debut from Christina Peshiris. You can buy your copy here! And you can read my post on what song I would choose right here, on the blog tour!

The Blurb
"My brother’s getting married in a few weeks and asked for help picking a song for his first dance. I suggested Kiss’s ‘Love’s a Slap in the Face’.
It didn’t go down well."
When she was a teenager, Zoë Frixos fell in love with Simon Baxter, her best friend and the boy next door. But his family moved to America before she could tell him how she felt and, like a scratched record, she’s never quite moved on. Now, almost twenty years later, Simon is heading back to London, newly single and as charming as ever . . .
But as obstacles continue to get in her way – Simon’s perfect ex-girlfriend, her brother’s big(ish) fat(ish) Greek wedding, and an obnoxious publicist determined to run Zoë – Zoë begins to wonder whether, after all these years, she and Simon just aren’t meant to be.
What if, despite what all the songs and movies say, you're first love isn't always all it's cracked up to be? What if, instead Zoë and Simon are forever destined to shuffle around their feelings for each other, never quite getting the steps right . . .


With a smart, relatable central character and razor-sharp wit, Love Songs for Sceptics is perfect for fans of Mhairi McFarlane, Lucy Vine and Lindsey Kelk.

My Review

I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump recently, but Love Songs for Sceptics brought me back to life.

I can honestly say it was a pleasure to read, from beginning to end. I loved all the characters, especially Zoe, the main character. I love the way she cares so much about the people she works with, and how they are her main concern when the magazine they work on is threatened with closure. A magazine, incidentally I would love to read!

Zoe is brilliant – I love her. She’s a strong woman with her head screwed on right, and has great relationships with everyone around her, except for when it comes to her love life. She’s been holding a torch for childhood friend Simon for years, so when he comes back into her life, she is ecstatic. But life, and love, is complicated…

I love the use of song titles for the Chapters, and the whole book was well-structured and brilliantly executed. It would be amazing to see this transferred to the big screen one day!

I loved it!

About the Author

Christina was born in London to Greek Cypriot parents, who used to bribe her to go to family weddings by promising that George Michael might be there. To deal with the inevitable disappointment, she began making up stories on napkins and has been writing ever since.



Don't forget to check out my choice of song on the Blog Tour for Love Songs for Sceptics!

Blog Tour: Love Songs for Sceptics by Christina Pishiris


Thank you to the author, Netgalley and of course the publisher, Simon & Schuster, for this chance to be on the blog tour for Love Songs for Sceptics, the utterly fabulous debut from Christina Peshiris. You can buy your copy here, and click here for my review!

The Blurb
"My brother’s getting married in a few weeks and asked for help picking a song for his first dance. I suggested Kiss’s ‘Love’s a Slap in the Face’.
It didn’t go down well."
When she was a teenager, Zoë Frixos fell in love with Simon Baxter, her best friend and the boy next door. But his family moved to America before she could tell him how she felt and, like a scratched record, she’s never quite moved on. Now, almost twenty years later, Simon is heading back to London, newly single and as charming as ever . . .
But as obstacles continue to get in her way – Simon’s perfect ex-girlfriend, her brother’s big(ish) fat(ish) Greek wedding, and an obnoxious publicist determined to run Zoë – Zoë begins to wonder whether, after all these years, she and Simon just aren’t meant to be.
What if, despite what all the songs and movies say, you're first love isn't always all it's cracked up to be? What if, instead Zoë and Simon are forever destined to shuffle around their feelings for each other, never quite getting the steps right . . .
With a smart, relatable central character and razor-sharp wit, Love Songs for Sceptics is perfect for fans of Mhairi McFarlane, Lucy Vine and Lindsey Kelk.

Vikbat's Love Song for Sceptics...

Sometimes soppy love songs just don't cut it. 

Sometimes you want to listen to something that reflects real life a bit more, something, you know, that isn't sugary sweet (it's bad for diabetics and teeth). 

Something that hits a nerve.

So when asked by those lovely people at Simon & Schuster to come up with my own Love Song for Sceptics, I wracked my brains. I went all through the lyrics by my beloved band Muse, but even Matt Bellamy has fallen in love and got married now (not to me though... silly boy!). Nothing really stood out as being suitable for this.

Until I was listening to Guns N' Roses on Spotify... and the perfect song came on, and I literally punched the air with glee. I don't know why I hadn't thought of it before - although it is definitely a blast from the past. It's an absolutely glorious song, celebrating the end of a relationship, describing what I would imagine a great many people have dreamed of doing to their exes...

The song was released as a B-side way back in 1988, and is on the album G N' R Lies. I know it's not exactly PC, but I believe it was written as a joke, not with any malicious intent behind it. That's how I have always taken it, just one of those songs, with the 'Her' being interchangeable with 'Him'.

The song is a lovely, country-style rock song  and it's so damn catchy! It's called 'I Used to Love Her', and basically, Axl goes on about how he used to love her, but he had to kill her, she's six feet under, and now she's buried in his back yard.

I love it.

If anything ever happens to my husband, this blog post never happened!





Tuesday 26 November 2019

Blog Tour: A Million Dreams by Dani Atkins

A Million Dreams: the heart-wrenching new love story from the winner of Romantic Novel of the Year by [Atkins, Dani]

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Head of Zeus for the opportunity to take part in the blog tour for the new novel by Dani Atkins. A Million Dreams was published on 14 November 2019, and you can buy it here.

The Blurb
Beth Brandon always dreamed of owning a florist, but today the bouquets of peonies and bright spring flowers are failing to calm her nerves. Because today, Beth has a life-changing decision to share with her husband.
Izzy Vaughan thought she and her husband would stay together forever, but sometime last year, their love began to fade. They both find such joy in their young son Noah – but is he enough to keep them together?
Eight years ago, something happened to these two women. Something that is about to bring them together in a way no-one thought possible...

My Review

This is a tricky review to write, as I don't want to spoil anything for the reader. But what I can tell you is that when I heard Dani Atkins had a new book out, I couldn't wait to read it - and I was not disappointed!

Told from the perspectives of both women, we learn how life never quite plays out the way you expect.  Both women's dreams of happy families take a different turn when life has other ideas for them.

Dani always delivers beautiful, emotive stories, without being mawkish or overly-sentimental. She pulls at the heartstrings just enough to make this sometimes cynical reader reach for the tissues with every book she writes, and Beth and Izzy's stories are seemlessly brought together.

A lovely warm-hearted read.


About the Author

Dani was born and brought up in Cockfosters - a small London suburb at the end of the Piccadilly Tube Line.

This served her well for commuting into the city, where from the age of 18 she worked in a succession of secretarial positions in companies as diverse as a BMW car dealership to the BBC. Dani spent her two hour commute avidly reading and dreamed that one day she would become an author herself. 

When her two children grew up and left home, Dani set about turning this dream into reality and devoted her time to writing. She now lives in a rural Hertfordshire cottage with her husband, a soppy border collie dog and a haughty Siamese cat.

Her first novels FRACTURED (called THEN AND ALWAYS in the US) and THE STORY OF US published in 2014. In January 2016, her third novel, OUR SONG was published. THIS LOVE was published in March 2017.

You can follow Dani on Twitter: @AtkinsDani and Facebook .