Book Review: Forever Yours

I've gone off reading a little since finishing this book, does anyone else get like that? I can go through like 12/15 books one after the other and then suddenly I have no desire to pick up another book for the longest time. I'm trying to find something lighthearted and trashy to read right now, but its hard to find anything good! I'm just in one of those funks.

I both loved and disliked this book. Hands down it was genuinely the most terrifying modern themed thing I have ever read. This was magical for me on many levels. The one that stands out most for me is the fact that I had to turn on the lights while reading this, I was that scared by the story. (I read it on my kindle which has a light, in case your thinking I'm sitting in the dark squinting at a dark page) I've read horrors, murder mysteries and the likes, but a book that seems to be more of a romantic.. thriller? And I had to finish the book all in one go. It was one of those sleepless nights anyway, so I was kept in good company. And then I disliked it for some of the same reasons. The content of the book, the slightly drawn out story and in some cases the poorly translated phrasing. 

Forever Yours is a story about the single Judith who owns and runs a light shop. She accidentally bumps into Hannes in a shop one day and it turns out they don't work so far from one another. Soon they start to bump into each other more often and it turns into coffee and dating. Hannes is every womans dream man and everyone in Judiths life is wowed by how wonderful he is. Judith herself can't believe her luck that such a charming and gorgeous man is interested in her. From how she acts when a compliment is given to her, its clear to see that confidance is lacking.

As wonderful as this man is, he soon starts to show signs of somewhat obsessive behavior, making his affections for Judith weary, oppressive and overbearing. Its lovely to be the apple of this mans eye, but can no one else see how he is beginning to act? Feeling isolated from family and friends, she tries to cut Hannes out of her life, but shes tormented by him everyday, even in her dreams. Why can't anyone else see the suffering he is causing her and how scary he is? Yet the minute something goes wrong in Judiths life, Hannes is there at the door waiting to make it all better again.

This was hair raising for me, a phrase I don't associate with when having read a book. It wasn't an amazing story, but the fear of the theme is what really made it for me. At the end of this story there is a moment that gets me in the feels in all sorts of ways, a real hurrah for the sexes kind of thing. And of course theres a big twist too, something else I liked about it. If more books were based on this type of topic I would never sleep again. One to put on your to-read list for sure.

Book Review: Prime Deception

I was approached by the author Cary Jones to read and review her new book Prime Deception via Net Gallery. I was really delighted to be asked to review a book as it would be my very first and not just one that I had bought and read myself. I naturally accepted straight away and downloaded it onto my kindle - a really handy function that a lot of the books on Net Gallery have. I'm not a big fan of reading a long book from my laptop, major square eyes!

This book is in the romantic thriller category, which means I was even more delighted to be asked. I'm mad about a bit of romance or a little erotica, me. (And don't go tutting, I know everyone loves a bit of a dirty read!) The book starts with Lorna who has been having an affair with the Prime Minster of Britain for the last six months and now she has committed suicide, or so says the coroners report after shes found dead in her car. But her twin sister Laurie is certain that her sister wouldn't kill herself, she was too full of life and loved living. Laurie heads off to London to seek out the truth, which means that she has to ask some hard questions that aren't easy to get an answer for. Unless your the Prime Minster that is. 

I have to say, when I read the blurb for the book I thought it sounded like it could be a really good read. The above paragraph has given nothing away about the story thats not in the blurb by the way, which I find a little odd as you could almost guess the entire story just from that alone. None the less I enjoyed the concept of the story, how well the reader got to know the characters and how the story developed. That was all good and fine up to a point when the story started to drag. It hit a point where the same sort of information was been fed; each character was sad that Lorna had died... How they had to wait for new information.. How alike the twins looked... How sad everyone was.. How they had to wait for new information. Did I mention how... Yeah, you get my point. There was one moment in the book where Laurie complains to the Prime Minster about them getting nowhere and how waiting was painful and making her impatient, which I had to laugh at considering the irony.  

In the end, I actually skipped a lot of pages which is something I never do. The book itself is 304/248 pages long - depending on what site you read it from, but as I had it on my kindle it was 3085 pages long because I have the letters massive (I can never find my glasses!). I skipped 80 pages near the end only to discover I could still understand the story perfectly and nothing much had changed. (Someone do the maths on the page count and understand that I skipped a feckin' load of pages.) There was an odd twist at the end which was great for the story considering it lost my attention with the repetition of the story line. 

Overall I thought it was a good read despite long dragged out parts and the weird pervy parts about twins, I'm glad I read it. Would I recommend it to a friend? I doubt it very much. You would have to be the sort to appreciate a book that had equal good and bad parts to it - But then again I know a surprising number of people who enjoy books like that! You can download it on Amazon here.

*I did not pay for this item, it was a PR gift.  Please see my disclaimer here. 

Book Review: No-one Ever Has Sex On A Tuesday

Stephen got me an Amazon voucher and naturally I spent it on books because honestly, what else is Amazon for? I got No-one Ever Has Sex on a Tuesday for £1.99 on kindle. I downloaded the first few sample chapters and knew it was going to be good. This is Tracy Bloom's first book and it has stayed in the top 100 best sellers list for over 115 days, go girl!

We follow Katy who is a 36 year old girl with it all under control. House owner, successful job with the best and very fabulous gay friend Daniel. But the cherry on top, Ben the much younger PE teacher boyfriend. He makes inappropriate jokes, has immature friends and tends to be covered in mud and foul smelling sports clothes when hes finished work. Hes not the sort of guy Katy planned to spend the rest of her life with, after all he is just a bit of fun. Its nothing serious and they haven't even bothered with the 'L' word its that cool and relaxed. Katy couldn't imagine herself with anyone really, not since her childhood sweetheart Matthew, who ended their long distance relationship in a not so pleasant way. But life goes on and Katy never has to set eyes on Matthew again, or at least not until they meet a their school reunion. Its emotional and fun to reconnect after so long with a lot left unsaid and soon a one night stand leads to the big dilemma. Katy is now pregnant and she doesn't know if Matthew or Ben is the dad. Right so.

Katy doesn't set eyes on Matthew again until she is eight months pregnant walking into her first antenatal class while he sits beside his heavily pregnant wife. This book was a lovely and funny read that had you wanting to turn page after page to see what new kind of trouble Katy was getting herself into next. Tracy Bloom has managed to create a lovable character that is easy to relate to and have empathy for even if her situation is a little on the tricky side and not everyone can say they have been in her shoes. 

I think what I loved most about this book was the sort of feelings Katy had with these two different men. I could relate to some of her old love sick feelings she felt for her ex Matthew, I mean we have all been there and know what it feels like to see the guy who hurt you again. Or the current flame Ben, who is so sweet and fun but you get the impression that Katy feels he isn't the guy to bet on and she doesn't know where she stands with him. 

If you want an easy going read about a girl who wants to protect her heart and keep her life on track with all its twists and turns then this ones for you. Because we all know that life never turns out the way we plan it to. Its a must for the book shelf!

What are you reading at the moment?

Book Review: Take A Chance On Me

I got this book in the in charity shop along with two others for €2, big spender right? So because I was in a bit of a girly mood I picked up the cheesiest romance novel I could find that had the most girl meets boy story on the back, and I came away with Jill Marsell's If you haven't found the one Take A Chance On Me. 

This story follows Cleo Quinn in the English countryside of Channing's Hill where she has lived all her life and now works happily as a chauffeur for a limo service. She has found the man of her dreams, gorgeous attentive and smart Will. Next pops up the old childhood enemy Johnny who bullied and made a fool of her in school. And she still remembers it. Hes now a big shot sculptor, rich, not to mention very good looking. Everyone in the little town loves him and women are just short of openly drooling, but Cleo is immune to his ways, thankfully. 

After all those 'charming' men we get introduced to the best friend, Ash. He lives next door to Cleo and is a real pet who is a very popular DJ for the local radio, his only problem being he is nothing like his on air personality when he meets an attractive woman, que the awkwardness! And then of course there is the sister, lovely solid Abbie and her equally lovely and solid husband. Or so it seems but then things kind of go pear shaped with the perfect couple just as we wave goodbye to the now awful Will.  

I'm sure you can now guess there is a new love interest involved and there are lots of thing happening in the village of Channing's Hill to keep all the residents on their toes. Will Cleo be able to overcome her dislike of poor Johnny? And whats going to happen with Abbie now that she has to move out of her home and away from her husband. Can Ash get over being tongue tied around beautiful women or will he head to Australia just as its too late?

In the end I liked this book and even got a bit must-not-move-until-I've-finished, but I wouldn't be quick to re-read it like some books. This was a nice, easy read and the story line was simple enough that you could pick it up on any page. Not a crazy fan of this one though, being predictable and a little slow to develop. It is relatable and has somewhat of a Bridget Jones feel in parts but not in a laugh-out-loud way. Picking it apart? If there was one or two side love interests before Cleo goes head first then I think it would have worked better. Oh and the side line story with Ash dragged an extra 80 pages out. Oh well, it was something I hadn't read before! I have another Jill Marsell book to read so perhaps that one will do better justice to her writing abilities.  

What are you reading at the moment?

Book Review: The Woman Who Went To Bed For A Year

Read it in the bath with a nice candle!

After spending one of my many 'lets see what I can't have' evenings roaming through kindle books, I came across this lovely one. Its £4.99, not the sort of price I find reasonable at all. (Then again, when your used to picking up 3 books for €2 in the charity shop like I am, not a lot looks like a bargain.) But Stephens lovely mammy lent it to me after us chatting about books we wanted or had read. So heres a little review for you all.

Sue Townsend is no stranger to most of us thanks to her best selling book The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole 13 3/4. Since then she has written many a wonderful story, including The Woman Who Went to Bed For a Year in 2012. In the funny and weird romance novel we follow the life of Eva, a wife and mother who has had enough of the world. In the middle of the day she gets into bed and doesn't budge again for well, a year. Her husband Brain is a man of science and hasn't the patiences or time to indulge his wife in her odd behaviour when he is hungry and can't find a clean shirt. Brian calls his mother and Eva's, convinced shes having a break down. But nothing will help to get the woman from her bed. 

Meanwhile the twins are off to college for the first time and not only are they lacking social abilities but they are the stereotypical maths geniuses. Things naturally get crazy in college and its just as bad back home with Alexander the handyman dismantling Eva's bedroom for her. Everyone has a few skeletons in the closet that are all about to be found at once. My god this book is a bit of a whirl wind but I just couldn't put it down. Throughout the book we are introduced to a range of characters that we get to know as part of this very dysfunctional but none the less loveable family. Its really family life to the max, bursting from cover to cover. Neighbours talk, strangers seek Eva's advice and the burning question remains; why has Eva gone to bed?

This is not a book to read on the bus if you don't fancy getting looked at for laughing hysterically like I did. There are some real gems inside these pages and its a book that make you sit back and think. And of course who hasn't had a day, week or month in their lives where they would rather stay in bed then face the difficulties of the world. In the middle of this modern world that Eva looks at, there are some pointed questions we take away. If I was to pick apart this book I would say my issues with it are the very unbelievable parts at the ending with the twins and the lack of closure with Eva. But overall its worth a read, even better if you can find it in the charity shop!

What are you reading at the moment?