Tag Archives: contemporary romance

Review of Sarah Morgan’s Moonlight Over Manhattan

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Moonlight Over Manhattan by Sarah Morgan

The Blurb:

Determined to conquer a lifetime of shyness, Harriet Knight challenges herself to do one thing a day in December that scares her, including celebrating Christmas without her family. But when dog-walker Harriet meets her newest client, exuberant spaniel Madi, she adds an extra challenge to her list – dealing with Madi’s temporary dog-sitter, gruff doctor Ethan Black, and their very unexpected chemistry.

Ethan thought he was used to chaos, until he met Madi – how can one tiny dog cause such mayhem? To Ethan, the solution is simple – he will pay Harriet to share his New York apartment and provide 24-hour care. But there’s nothing simple about how Harriet makes him feel.

Ethan’s kisses make Harriet shine brighter than the stars over moonlit Manhattan. But when his dog-sitting duties are over, and Harriet returns to her own home, will she dare to take the biggest challenge of all – letting Ethan know he has her heart for life, not just for Christmas?

Genre: Contemporary Romance | Women’s Fiction
Publisher: HQ

My review:

I have been a Sarah Morgan fan since discovering the Snow Crystal series and always enjoy her books. I didn’t know that Moonlight Over Manhattan was the 6th book in a series (not sure how I missed that) and read it as a standalone. It didn’t matter, and it certainly didn’t disappoint, and now I know I have the treat of five more books to get stuck in to.

I read the story with a smile and enjoyed getting to know Harriet, her family and friends, as well as the animals in her care. Ethan Black, as you’d expect from Sarah Morgan, had plenty of swoon appeal. I loved the locations and almost burst when Snow Crystal and the fabulous O’Neil brothers were not only mentioned but visited too!

If you are a lover of a good romance read, Sarah Morgan books are a must.

Click to buy the book.

About the author:

USA Today bestselling author Sarah Morgan writes commercial women’s fiction and her trademark humour and warmth have gained her fans across the globe.

Described as ‘a magician with words’ by RT Book Reviews, she has been nominated four years in succession for the prestigious RITA© Award from the Romance Writers of America and won the award twice; in 2012 for her book ‘Doukakis’s Apprentice’ and 2013 for ‘A Night of No Return’. She also won the RT Reviewers’ Choice Award in 2012 and has made numerous appearances in their ‘Top Pick’ slot.

Sarah lives near London with her husband and children, and when she isn’t reading or writing she loves being outdoors.

Discover more about Sarah Morgan here: website | Twitter

Thank you for another great read, Sarah, and I look forward to catching up with the rest of the From Manhattan With Love series.

My reviews are added to Amazon UK and Goodreads. x

Review of Lorraine Wilson’s Poppy’s Place in the Sun

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The blurb:

Sometimes you need to lose yourself to find your way home…

With only her trusty dogs Peanut, Treacle and Pickwick by her side, Poppy Kirkbride could be forgiven for having doubts about her move to a quiet village in rural France. But as the sun shines down on her ramshackle new home, Poppy knows she’s made the right decision. A lick of paint, and some TLC and her rustic farmhouse will be the perfect holiday retreat – Poppy’s dream come true.

Poppy is welcomed by her fellow villagers, except for brooding local vet Leo Dubois, who makes it clear Poppy isn’t welcome in his village – or his life! Leo might be gorgeous, but Poppy won’t be told what to do by an arrogant Frenchman – no matter how kind and gentle he is to her dogs!

Determined to stay, Poppy tries to understand the enigmatic Frenchman better. But as the two get closer, Poppy sees another side to Leo – a man with heartbreak of his own. Falling in love with Leo is easy, but can he ever return Poppy’s love? And what would this mean for her dream life and place in the sun?

Published by: Harper Impulse
Genre: Romantic Comedy

My review:

Beautiful countryside to escape to, and a cute cast of four-legged sidekicks. I enjoyed the Chalet Girl series and so was excited to read Lorraine Wilson’s latest novel. With not a hint of snow in sight, the setting was idyllic. The beautiful French countryside provided the ideal backdrop for Poppy to start to build her new life; something she tackles with admirable determination, despite the adventure not starting out as she planned. Her dogs were cute, good listeners and perfect companions.

When a moody, handsome neighbour appears, who then turns out to be a vet (and to own a dog too), you know romance is going to follow. The plot builds steadily, and while the friendship between Poppy and Leo is slow at times, the reasons are revealed with a backstory that adds depth to Leo’s character.

I liked the cast of supporting characters and the way most enriched Poppy’s new life.

Lorraine Wilson always writes steamy scenes well, and while this book is slower paced than some of her previous novels, if you are a fan, you won’t be disappointed 😉

Click here to buy the book.

About the author:

Lorraine Wilson writes flirty, feel-good fiction for Harper Impulse – a Harper Collins imprint – and is unashamedly fond of happy endings. She loves hearing from readers and feels incredibly grateful to be doing the job she always dreamt of.

She splits her time between the South of France and Cambridgeshire and is usually either writing or reading while being sat on, walked over or barked at by one of her growing band of rescue dogs.

You can find Lorraine online via Facebook and Twitter.

Thank you for the fun read Lorraine,  my reviews are added to Amazon UK and Goodreads. x

Publication Celebrations for The Purrfect Pet Sitter

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As I am sure you are aware (I’ve done a lot of shouting about it) The Purrfect Pet Sitter was released on April 24th and a wonderful week of celebrations ensued.

I am so grateful to everyone who helped to make the week special. Online, fellow writers were super supportive. My Ruby Fiction and Choc Lit family were great, and book bloggers were as fabulous as ever, as they shared early reviews and started giving my book mentions (there’s more to come on this when my book starts its official blog tour with Rachel’s Random Resources on May 15th).

Early reviews

Early reviews are in and I am overwhelmed by the lovely things people are saying about The Purrfect Pet Sitter:

“Packed with fun, humour, twists and depth. What a read!” MiniMaxi

“All I can say is that this ticked every single box. Choc Lit’s Ruby is for stories which tap into the reader’s emotions and The Purrfect Pet Sitter certainly did that for me.” Jo Osborne

“The Purrfect Pet Sitter is a good story that I was really entertained by on a wet and windy bank holiday weekend. It took me on a lovely journey of personal growth and even features a couple of gorgeous men too.” Rachel Gilbey

And if you haven’t downloaded it yet, the good news is it is still only 99p across all ebook retailers! Click to buy.

Thoroughly spoilt

In the week since publication I have been thoroughly spoilt by my family and friends with lovely cards, flowers, meals out, cake and more cake!

And just as in The Purrfect Pet Sitter, here are a couple of pictures to prove children and animals bring their own special element of chaos to the proceedings!

Author of the Week
To celebrate publication week, my fabulous fellow Chindi Authors also made me their Author of the Week. I went on a tour of their blogs, chatting about all things related to The Purrfect Pet Sitter in a variety of guest posts and interviews. If you missed the posts you can catch up on my Chindi blog tour here:

A big thank you to all of the Chindi Authors who took part and allowed me to gatecrash their blogs! I really appreciate your support.

Thank you so much to everyone for making the publication of The Purrfect Pet Sitter so special, and if you have read it please leave a review on the site you purchased it from. Reviews, no matter what their length, make a huge difference to authors, and help them and their work get noticed.

Now to stop eating cake (sigh!) and to crack on with the next book! xx

Review of Marie Laval’s Little Pink Taxi

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Little Pink Taxi by Marie Laval

The Blurb

Take a ride with Love Taxis, the cab company with a Heart … 
Rosalie Heart is a well-known face in Irlwick – well, if you drive a bright pink taxi and your signature style is a pink anorak, you’re going to draw a bit of attention! But Rosalie’s company Love Taxis is more than just a gimmick – for many people in the remote Scottish village, it’s a lifeline.

Which is something that Marc Petersen will never understand. Marc’s ruthless approach to business doesn’t extend to pink taxi companies running at a loss. When he arrives in Irlwick to see to a new acquisition – Raventhorn, a rundown castle – it’s apparent he poses a threat to Rosalie’s entire existence; not just her business, but her childhood home too.

On the face of it Marc and Rosalie should loathe each other, but what they didn’t count on was somebody playing cupid …

Genre: RomCom / Contemporary
Publisher: Choc Lit

My review:
I thoroughly enjoyed Little Pink Taxi, with its great combination of interesting characters, drama, comedy, mystery and intrigue. Having bought the book because I liked the cover, I hadn’t expected the ghostly happenings but loved them and their pivotal role in the story. Rosalie and Marc are both very likeable characters with an intriguing backstory. I liked the way Marc’s character developed with a little help from Rosalie, the situations he found himself in and a few unexpected influences along the way. The Cairngorms of Scotland and the rundown Raventhorn castle made the perfect backdrop for the ghostly and romantic goings-on. Overall it was a fabulous read with a few twists and surprises along the way.

Click to buy the book.
Find Little Pink Taxi on the Choc Lit website.

About the author:

Originally from Lyon in France, Marie now lives in Lancashire with her family. She works full-time as a modern languages teacher, and in her spare times loves writing romance and dreaming about romantic heroes. She writes both historical and contemporary romance, and her historical romance The Lion’s Embrace won the Gold Medal at the Global eBook Awards 2015 (category Historical Romance). She is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and the Society of Authors. Her native France, as well as her passion for history and research, very much influences her writing, and all her novels have what she likes to call ‘a French twist’!

Find Marie Laval on Twitter or follow her on her blog.

Thank you for the great read Marie.

My reviews are added to Amazon UK and Goodreads x

Happy New Year and we’re off!

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Happy New Year everyone and thank you for checking out my blog; it has been a long time coming, but, with an exciting year ahead, I have finally decided to get organised and get posting.

I intend to focus on writing and reading, but as I have a bit of a cinema-going habit that will be added in from time to time too. As no doubt, will things about life in general; for those who don’t know, I have a husband, four children, two grandchildren, a guinea pig and a crazy Labrador puppy, so life is fun, with a bit of hectic thrown in. At a later date (when I know what I’m doing) I also hope to have guest posts and interviews with some of the lovely authors and bloggers I have met through my writing.

Writing:

January is off to a good start. I have completed the edits to my manuscript. While my previous book, Crazy Over You – self-published through Matador – had several edits, a copy edit and a proofread, editing for a publisher (who has their audience to consider) is new to me.

When I first received Jane Eastgate’s editorial report, along with the Choc Lit tasting panel feedback, being told I had to change aspects of certain characters was overwhelming. I’d spent two and a half years in the company of these characters; they had become my family and friends. It took at least a day to get my head around what was being asked and then, with Christmas approaching and my children breaking up from school, a little longer to stop panicking about when I would fit it in. Once I shut myself away in a hotel room (perks of the job) and got started, it all felt more manageable, and I found the process exciting.

Each step taken now is a step towards publication and my debut with Ruby Fiction, the new imprint of Choc Lit. I can’t wait for my book to be out, and it will be interesting to see how the title, currently Regret Me Not, is changed and what the cover will look like. As I had already commissioned a cover from Drew Bristow (who did the cover for Crazy Over You), before my new book was signed to Choc Lit, it will be interesting for me to compare our interpretation with that of the in-house cover designer. It is all a wonderful learning curve!

I have also booked onto Sue Moorcroft’s writing retreat in June. It is a week in Umbria in the company of other writers; though mostly we’ll be ignoring each other with our heads down writing. I am very much looking forward to it. At the moment, I can’t actually think about leaving my children for that long, or taking the flight by myself, without looking like the image from the scream painting. But, nevertheless, with my forty-fifth birthday approaching – next week arghhh – I am determined to embrace the adventure.

Reading:

My current read is Jane Lovering’s The Boys of Christmas, which happens to be Choc Lit title. Reviews help authors and their work get noticed, even if you only have time to leave a sentence or two, and so I always review the books I read. I’m really enjoying it at the moment, and look forward to sharing more about it next time.

Thank you for getting this far and I hope you’ll stop by again. x