Novelicious.com | The Women's Fiction Blog for Readers and Writers

Review - Time Untime by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Reviewed by Jennifer Joyce

Geologist Kateri Avani has heard many stories of mythical beings and demons from her grandmother, but she’s never really believed in any of them until they turn up at her office demanding to be given a stone she knows nothing about. She has many stones, but this particular stone has magical powers that will prevent the gates to other realms from opening and unleashing all sorts of evil upon Earth.

Ren is a Dark Hunter, brought back to life to protect the human world from demons. For years, Ren has had dreams about a beautiful woman who stabs him through the heart, killing him and banishing him to eternal agony in hell. When Ren is tasked with protecting Kateri and the stone, he realises she is the woman from his dreams. Kateri has also had dreams of being killed by a gorgeous man, a huge warrior who turns out to be Ren. So when they are forced to stick together to survive, they must be on guard to protect themselves.

Time Untime is a fast-paced adventure with gods and demons battling against one another but, for me, there was far too much going on. There are so many myths and legends, a lot of which left me confused, and I’m sure if it had slowed down a little and explained further I would have enjoyed the book much more. I wasn’t even clear who or what Ren was until half way through the book, when it was explained what Dark Hunters are and their duties.

Novelicious Chats To... Lucy Clarke

Lucy Clarke's debut novel, The Sea Sisters has been selected as a Richard & Judy 2013 Summer Book Club read and explores the strongest, and often most fraught, family relationship a woman will ever have, that of sisterhood. Here's our recent review.

Can you tell us a little about your average writing day?

I’m a morning person, so I set my alarm early and am usually at my desk by 6.30 am. I’m hopeless by evening – it’s as if my creativity fades with the day. I generally write Mondays to Fridays so that I have evenings and weekends free to spend with friends and family who have ‘proper jobs’!

I prefer to write by hand – there’s something about the simplicity of a pencil and a blank page that appeals to the romantic in me. I love to write to music, too. There are certain albums I play to help me step into a character’s mindset, or to inspire a particular atmosphere in a scene.

I only have one rule when I’m writing: get outside every day. Fresh air is good for the soul, and great for the imagination.

When you are writing, do you use any celebrities or people you know as inspiration?

I don’t tend to use celebrities for inspiration, but people I have met certainly influence my characters. I’m very careful not to ‘lift’ the personalities of friends or family members onto the page, but I will use smaller details, such as a shared anecdote, the way someone applies lipstick, the sound of a friend’s laughter.

What is your favourite Women’s Fiction book of all time and why?

This is such a hard question because I love SO many women’s fiction books! One of my all-time favourite writers is Anita Shreve, and I absolutely adored her novel Body Surfing. Her prose is very lean and poetic, and has a simplicity to it that I deeply admire.

Review - The GI Bride by Iris Jones Simantel

Reviewed by Kate Appleton 

This is Iris Jones Simantel’s second memoir detailing her life after the Second World War. After surviving evacuation and the Blitz of WWII, Iris returns to her poverty stricken family in London. One day she is swept off her feet by US soldier Bob Irvine and they marry soon after her 16^th Birthday before setting sail to America with dreams of love and prosperity. However, reality soon comes knocking. Cramped in a noisy flat in Chicago, baby on the way and an increasingly distant husband, Iris is desperately lonely. In the midst of her despair Iris has to work hard to carve out a life in the land of hope and opportunity.

I had high hopes for this novel and being a memoir I was ready to be riveted. Unfortunately, Iris seems to be shy on giving too much of an insight into her life ending up with a slightly dull commentary. The narrative lacked the depth and emotion I expected and what Iris’s life deserved, in this respect I feel she sold herself short.

Review - The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepherd

Reviewed by Zoe Lea

Juliet Moreau is destitute, working as a cleaner in King’s College she is a world away from the life she used to have. As the daughter of the famous surgeon, Doctor Moreau, Juliet used to live a privileged life but a huge scandal caused her father to disappear - leaving her and her mother to fend for themselves. After her mother’s death, Juliet struggled to find a place in society and is haunted by the scandal surrounding her father’s disappearance. She believes him to be dead, so when she runs into Montgomery James, a former servant in their house and assistant to her father, Juliet is taken aback. She discovers that her father is, in fact, very much alive and living on a remote island. Juliet persuades Montgomery to take her to the island so she may be reunited with her father and confront him over the scandal, but something far worse than mere scandalous rumors await her there.

Once on the island, Juliet learns of her father’s brilliance and deviance and exactly what triggered the horrific scandal in the first place.  Now educated to her father’s research and ongoing work, she is shocked to her core and desperate to escape the island and her heritage, with only her wits to help her.

Feasting on Romantic Comedy – Scones from The Drowning of Arthur Braxton by Caroline Smailes

"If she's baked on the Sunday afternoon, she'll bring me a scone or a fairy bun wrapped in a piece of kitchen roll..."

First things first. The Drowning of Arthur Braxton by Caroline Smailes is not romantic comedy. It's a modern fairy tale with swearing, gritty realism and characters who are, by their own admission, a bit wonky. It focuses on adolescence and the pain that comes with it. It is, however, about love. It's powerful, emotional and beautifully written.

Laurel, a school girl, is working and earning money at The Oracle, an old Edwardian bathhouse. The Oracle is a place where people go to get healed by the three water healers; Madame Pythia, Martin Savage and Silver.

Novelicious Chats To...Helen Chandler

Novelicious catches up with Helen Chandler to talk about her writing her debut novel Two for Joy, which is released on 6th June.

Can you tell us a little about your average writing day?

There’s not really any such thing as an average day when you’re a stay-at-home mum to a lively four-year-old! My writing tends to get squeezed into odd moments whenever I can, although my mother-in-law looks after Anna on a Thursday afternoon, so that time is sacrosanct for writing, and now Anna has started nursery every morning things are a bit more predictable.

I often write in a local café – I like being out in the world, they make fabulous hot chocolate, brownies and panini, and when I get stuck I can sit and people watch until inspiration strikes again. That was fine when it was one afternoon a week, but now I get some writing time most days, I’m going to have to switch to herbal tea (requiring willpower I don’t really have) or find somewhere else to write, or I’ll put on a stone per book!

When you are writing, do you use any famous people or people you know as inspiration?

Not really. Everyone says that first novels are always autobiographical, and there are definitely elements of Julia’s character which she shares with me, but other characters are fairly mix and match. There are aspects which are based on people I know, or on snippets of conversation I pick up through my compulsive eavesdropping on buses or in cafes, but it’s all jumbled up, so I don’t think anyone will be recognising themselves in my book!

Novel News – Avon Announce Short Story Collection

The lovely folks at Avon will soon be releasing two collections of short stories as ebooks, one of which will be a women's fiction title called The Perfect Escape.

The stories will be written by some of women's fictions best known authors including Sunday Times bestsellers Claudia Carroll, Miranda Dickinson and Julia Williams, and will contain exclusive extracts from their upcoming titles!

The Perfect Escape will be released on 27th June and will be free to download.