Novelicious - The Female Fiction and Chick Lit Blog

Review - Players by Karen Swan

REVIEWED BY KIRA SLAUGHTER

Harry Hunter is the new golden boy of the literary scene.

With his books selling by the millions, the paparazzi on his tail and a supermodel on each arm, he seems to have the world at his feet. Women everywhere adore him but few suspect that his angelic good looks hide a darker side, a side that conceals a lifetime of lies and deceit.

Tor, Cress and Kate have been best friends for as long as they can remember.

Through all the challenges of marriage, raising children and maintaining their high-flying careers, they have stuck together as a powerful and loyal force to be reckoned with- living proof that twenty-first century women can have it all. It is only when the captivating Harry comes into their lives that things begin to get complicated, as Tor, Cress and Kate are drawn into Harry’s dangerous games...

Review - The Goddess Village by Nuala Woulfe

REVIEWED BY AMANDA KEATS

In the heart of Ireland, a new eco-village, Cloonsheeda, is being built. In the lead-up to the village festival, the women of Cloonsheeda will take a look at their lives and conquer what has been holding them back for years.

 

Full of quirky characters, Cloonsheeda has struggling mothers, controlling fathers, non-romantic husbands, religious zealots and corrupt politicians. There is the stay-at-home mum who wants to break free of the monotony of married life, the young German teenager starting her job as a nanny and naive about the ways of the world, the passionate young woman whose Australian sex-god has fizzled into a roomate in the Irish climate and the ex-wife of a well-known politician, alone and unsure how to move on. But this is not just about the females in Cloonsheeda, as it focuses on the men in their lives too.

 

This is a well-written character-based plot. Some characters leapt off the page for me far more than others. Sinéad was my personal favourite as she was clearly a feisty person in her heyday and this impulse had been surpressed by her husband "Daddy Winterbottom". Called "Mummy Winterbottom" by her husband and having to endure noisy dinner times while her husband sits and eats next to her with noise-cancelling headphones on to protect his hearing, you can see exactly how close she is to snapping under the pressure. So when the chance to join a protest against the new motorway being built presents itself, you just knew Sinéad was going to have something to offer.

Review - Too Close For Comfort by Clare Dowling

REVIEWED BY AMANDA KEATS

Two sisters with two secrets - who will tell first?

 

Ali is up and taking her three kids to the airport for a surprise holiday back in her native Ireland. Or so they think. Ali has told her husband that she wants a divorce and after he threatened to take the kids from her, she has decided to flee. After all, her sister Emma would be fine with putting them up for a bit, surely. Emma, having recently ended her engagement to Ryan, is back home wallowing in her own misery and does not expect the surprise visit from her sister, nor does she welcome it.

 

The book starts with Ali leaving Texas with her children and sees her return to Ireland and descend on her sister, resulting in friction and chaos from all sides. The children want to know when they're going back home. Emma wants to know when she's going to get her home back to herself and Ali wonders how long she can keep up the charade before everything crumbles. Emma and Ali's mother has turned into a nasty woman, taking out all her frustrations at being a full-time carer at her husband, who is on heart attack number five. But Ali has not seen this much of her sister in years and when she stops thinking of herself for a second, finally notices that something is up with Emma. Why did her engagement really end? And why is she always checking her tongue in the mirror?

 

All the characters are well thought out. There is the quiet sister and the brash, louder one. The co-dependent and antagonistic relationship of their parents is heartbreaking and entirely understandable. Ali's rash decision to flee the country may have been a stupid and petulant one but it is entirely plausible after the threat her husband gave her. So of course, as is often the case, when all these personalities are forced back into each others company, sparks will fly.

 

Sadly though, there wasn't enough spark for me in the book. It was entirely readable and plodded along well. But even when Emma's big secret is revealed - though it is a big one - it didn't heighten any kind of tension. All it did was raise more questions. And then when it ended, it just sort of ended. It was all just a bit of a fizzle really. And sadly, it clearly had the potential to be great.

 

Dowling is a great writer of people. She understands relationships well and delves into people's imperfections with great care and honesty. The pace of the book just didn't grab like it should have.

 

6/10

MORE ABOUT TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT

Review - Shakespeare's Mistress by Karen Harper

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR

Anne Whateley, is a young woman who was born in the same year as William Shakespeare. Her mother, an Italian ropedancer, died when she was young and it is because of her that Anne's complexion, hair and eyes are far darker than that of her friends. She lives with her father and knows Will by sight, but when Anne persuades Will to help her go to Kenilworth, so she can see Queen Elizabeth, he ends up rescuing her and the two become much closer.

Through various disappointments and losses the two fall in love and eventually marry in secret. However, soon after their wedding, Will is persuaded to marry Anne Hathaway, a woman he insists he is not in love with, but who is pregnant with his child. No one is aware that Anne Whateley is his legal wife and she is devastated at his betrayal. When her father dies she leaves Temple Grafton and everything familiar to her to go and live with friends in London.

Shakespeare's Mistress is obviously well researched. The story starts in 1601 when Anne is questioned by Queen Elizabeth's men. They are suspicious of Will's loyalties and decide to question her. The story, written in five acts, then goes back to 1564 and is Anne Whateley telling the story of her relationship with Will from when they were young until his death. 

The detail brings the book to life, but the Tudor English does make the book a little harder to read than most. I should think that if you were looking for a beautifully researched novel based in the Tudor period this one would be perfect. I think it's a matter of personal taste and preference. 

6/10

You can find out more about Karen Harper and her books on her website.

Review - One Day by David Nicholls

Reviewed by Amanda Keats and Cesca Martin

One Day is the story of Emma and Dexter (Em and Dex), who meet on their final night at university.  The book spans their interwoven lives for the next twenty years showing the highs and lows, loves and heartbreaks. The basic concept is that we see a day every year over twenty years to see how their lives develop.

  Here, Cesca and Amanda explore whether it manages to live up to the hype...

 Amanda: I make it a general rule of thumb not to read books that EVERYONE is reading. With the hype comes raised expectations and equally elevated disappointments. So when everyone started talking about One Day, dubbing it a life altering book guaranteed to have you laughing and sobbing in equal measure, I vowed to leave it well alone... at least until the hype had died down. Then they went and made it into a film...

  Cesca: I am the complete opposite. Obsessed with not wanting to feel left out of any bookish chat I tend to buy everything the moment it comes out, build a small book tower and work my way through it. It still seems to take me as long to get round to things though...

 Amanda: The main relationship between Em and Dex is a fascinating one. Emma clearly sees something great in Dexter that he has failed to notice. She is always sending him books to read, telling him he can do anything and should push himself harder. She frowns (a lot!) at his run of ditzy but gorgeous girlfriends and worries for him as he falls deeper and deeper into a very dark place. Simultaneously, Dexter is oddly drawn to Emma. He thinks of her often and she is the first person he wants to call when he needs to talk to somebody. While he is surrounded with people who adore him, he realises there is a loyalty in Emma he is unlikely to find elsewhere and grows to really love her. He also seems to fully acknowledge that he might just have it in him to be the man she wants him to be – and longs to reach her high expectations of him. The main issue seems to be that their timing is always off. And as they find other relationships and move further and further away from each other, the chemistry always remains intact. There is a passion in their relationship that cannot be equalled by other partners, who are more complacent and resigned to a quiet, content life which you just know is never going to be enough for either of them.

  One of the things I really loved is the time-sensitive references to the 80s, 90s and noughties. The change from phones to mobiles, letters to emails, tapes to CDs and the start of the internet is brilliant. There are many references, too, to political situations and changing fashions (the hair is constantly changing on Emma's head!)

  Cesca: Ooh me too. There are some wonderfully nostalgic moments.

 Amanda: I really struggled with the opening jump. It starts with a geeky know-it-all Em spending the night chatting and kissing with the incredibly hot but totally arrogant Dex. It then moves onto the following year where they are the very best of friends, pen pals as they travel the globe and checking in with each other on a regular basis. I am not alone it seems in finding this jump completely jarring – not only because you don't know what's been happening over that year, but basically because it is unclear why they would have remained friends. I, personally, find that if the starts lacks plausibility, the rest just wanders off without making any sense – no matter how well written it is (and it is incredibly well written!). Emma is clearly besotted with Dex so wanting to stay in touch with him makes total sense. What isn't clear is why he would stay in touch with her. It just seems ridiculous. Having now read the whole thing, I can see what Nicholls was trying to do with the structure but I just don't agree (sorry David!).

  Cesca: I liked the concept - so simple - but agree that the initial leap was not explained well enough. It simply seemed unrealistic that these two people became such good friends in such a short period of time.

 Amanda: I was also very disappointed at just how sad the book is. People called it a weepy so I wasn't expecting all giggles and happy times but a “true” reflection of two people's lives over twenty years should have had some ups and downs not all downs with occasional fleeting moments of happiness. It just got too depressing. The sexual tension makes for some electric arguments and compelling dialogue but ultimately you want to smack them for not realising they should be together and as the years drag on, you just get sadder and sadder at the total waste of their time spent apart. The best sad books have a mixture of happy and sad/good and bad, not just a long line of disappointments and heartache. It gets frustrating more than exciting and their longing for each other and missed opportunities are just depressing.

  Cesca: The dialogue is a definite highlight and there is no doubting David Nicholls can write fluently and wittily.

 Amanda: But there is one absolutely massive issue I have with the book – the two main characters are just not very nice. Emma is clearly very talented but can't make up her mind what she wants to do as a career (fair enough). She becomes complacent and annoying, always keeping her air of superiority. Dexter gets cockier the older he gets and as he starts drinking, doing drugs and sleeping with everything that moves you lose all sympathy for him.

  Cesca: I absolutely agree. I just didn't like them! I was beginning to wonder whether I did care what happened to them as they both seemed so self-obsessed and unpleasant.

 Amanda: Completely. No matter how annoying or jarring it might be, when you reach the half-way mark, something just drives you on and it wasn't the desire to seem them happy – it seemed to just be frustration at not knowing what was going to happen next. You need to know how it all ends more than want to and it becomes very difficult to put down. You need to know that Emma and Dex will sort it out eventually and wake up and realise how perfect they could be together and how much better and happier they would each be with the other one by their side.

  Cesca: I do think the second half of the book became a lot more interesting and there was no doubting that the book was well-written enough for you to continue to turn the page, but, OH, they're STILL annoying.

Review - Incubus by Carol Goodman

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR

Dr Callie McFay is a young teacher and has been having erotic dreams about a man who comes to her room in the form of a shadow bathed in moonlight. When she travels to Fairwick College, a remote village in the Catskills for an interview, she spots a rundown Victorian cottage and is inexplicably drawn to it. Discovering that this pretty cottage was once owned by Dahlia Lamotte, a novelist from the early part of the twentieth century, Callie is even more intrigued and despite her boyfriend's reluctance and that of the estate agent, buys the house and accepts the job.

Soon after she moves in, her dream lover reappears. Callie becomes besotted with him and soon he seems to take over her every waking and sleeping moment. Strange things begin to happen.

When Callie goes for a run she finds a small bird trapped in a thicket and releases it. When three of her female colleagues, one being the Dean of the college, learn about what happened with the bird, they realize there's more to Callie than even she imagines. She's also  valuable to them and when she confides in them about this mysterious man, they warn her about her dream lover, the incubus and how, if she's not careful he'll suck the life out of her. 

When Callie decides to fight against her attraction to the incubus, she sets in motion frightening storms and unexpected violence. Before her boyfriend can reach the village to be with her, the village is cut off from the outside world and Callie discovers it's not going to be as easy as she'd thought to fend off this particular creature, whether she wants to or not. 

Review - Happier Than She's Ever Been... by Menna Van Praag

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR

Happier Than She's Ever Been... is a follow on book to Men, Money and Chocolate, an autobiographical story of a woman who longs to be a writer but lacks the self-confidence to ever think it's possible. Maya eats too much and her relationships are pretty lousy, until she has a chance encounter that changes the way she thinks and looks at herself and Maya ends up becoming the published writer she has always longed to be.

In Happier Than She's Ever Been we find May happy, in love with Ben, the man of her dreams, and living with him above his bookshop. Every Tuesday and Thursday evening she holds special events for anyone who wants to attend and tries to make these evenings magical and welcoming hoping to give back something to others to make their lives a little bit more special.

Her past haunts her and May starts to fret that maybe it's not possible to have it all. She begins to worry that Ben will become bored of her and instead of talking to him about her fears, she keeps her worries to herself. Ben is aware that May is becoming distant, but doesn't like to broach the subject for fear of pushing her away. 

Review - The Return by Victoria Hislop

REVIEWED BY CESCA MARTIN

I recently went to Greece and needed to stock up on some books to read.   The Return had been sitting on my bookshelf staring at me forlornly for months.  Victoria Hislop’s first book, ‘The Island’ (set in Greece no less) was a wonderful book so I knew this would be an engaging story.  And just to confuse me it was all set in Spain!

Victoria Hislop clearly loves Spain: the culture, the people, the food, the atmosphere and of course the flamenco dancing.  The story centres around Sonia, an English woman in a difficult marriage who is looking for more in her life.  She joins a salsa class in London and finds release in the dance.  Her best friend Maggie books them a trip to Granada, a vibrant, colourful part of Spain, to dance and escape their lives for a while.  Sonia seems keener on a good night’s sleep than nights of wild dancing and explores the little town as Maggie sleeps on.  It is on one of these forays that Sonia meets Miguel, an ageing waiter in a bar.  They strike up an unlikely friendship and through Miguel she learns about the Spanish Civil War and in particular the fortunes of the Ramirez family.  She is drawn into their lives, and into Spain at this time.  Sonia’s life is transformed by these tales.

Review - Lucky Break by Esther Freud

REVIEW BY DEBS CARR

The book begins on the first day of term at Drama Arts and for the wannabe actors, being there is something they've yearned for all their lives. Each has their own insecurities and dreams, but this is the place where they're going to learn how to Act, how to Be.

Nell is the insecure girl with the problem hair and less than perfect body, she becomes friendly with Charlie, who is very beautiful and knows it. Then there's Dan. Dan is handsome and talented and Nell soon falls for him. Unfortunately he's far more interested in fiesty Jemma, who is not about to let any other female take her place.

 

The book follows the characters through the following decade. Some fall by the wayside, some end up having to choose a different path to keep them going and each of them are waiting for their Lucky Break.

I felt sorry for Nell, who never seemed to be one of the more talented, beautiful or lucky ones, even when it somes to romance. She tries hard, but nothing comes easy for her. When Charlie's boyfriend dumps her, she asks Nell to move in, but Charlie has a tendancy to pick people up when it suits her, forgetting them instantaneaously when she has more interesting offers to busy herself with. Dan is more successful than the others and soon finds work, however although success comes easier to him than his contemporaries he has his own competitors and personal difficulties to deal with.

I was looking forward to reading this book and at the beginning thought it was going to be exactly what I'd hoped for, but it focuses more on the ambitions and disappointments of the characters and had less romantic focus than I would have liked. I think this is very much a matter of personal taste though and I'm sure other readers would probably thoroughly enjoy it.  The book is well written and you can tell that Esther Freud knows the acting world well.

6/10

Review - The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

REVIEW BY CESCA MARTIN 
 

 

 

 

 I tend to like books that are set in castles (think: ‘I capture the castle’ and er... Harry Potter) so this promised to be a good read.  Kate Morton didn’t let me down, painting a very vivid picture of the living, breathing building that is Milderhurst Castle.

It all began with a letter...

Edie Burchill and her mother have never been that close.  Her mother has always been guarded, controlled and withdrawn.  However when a long lost letter arrives in the post and her mother starts sobbing in the kitchen Edie is intrigued.  The return address is one Milderhurst Castle, Kent and Edie soon finds herself drawn to the castle.  She begins to uncover old secrets, the source of her mother’s distress, the stories of the three eccentric sisters Blythe and the truth of what happened all those years ago.

The book is essentially two stories - one set in the modern day and the other during the Second World War when Edie’s mother was evacuated.  Kate Morton has clearly done her research – the reader is plunged into a realistic England in the 1940’s, with little snippets of war stories conjuring up plenty of images of a lost era.  The claustrophobic world of the castle, and the ancient and intriguing Sisters Blythe, are suitably creepy.  Most chilling of all is the simple story of ‘The Mud Man’, an ominous character who wonderfully reflects the sinister feel of the book.

Review - My Bollywood Wedding by Rekha Waheed

Maya Malik has proposed to her perfect man Janghir Khan and despite his family’s reservations about having her as a prospective daughter-in-law, she resolves to plan the perfect wedding.

Not only does Maya have to contend with her wealthy family and his extremely wealthy one fighting over the dowries, but also had Janghir’s sister-in-law, Seema who dislikes her intensely and seems to be taking over the wedding arrangements rather than simply assisting Maya with the preparations. Janghir’s cousin Zain, a handsome George Clooney look-alike keeps offering Maya help and when Janghir appears to be distancing himself from Maya, she begins to wonder if she is indeed marrying the right man.

Seema has a way of making Maya feel fat and useless and as time presses on, she begins to realize that the wedding she was hoping for is becoming something of a distant dream. Maya resolves to sort herself out and take the reins back from the scheming Seema and find a way to give Janghir a wedding to be proud of.

Review - The Promise of Happiness by Erin Kaye

Reviewed by Amanda Keats

There is fine line for most people between love and hate when it comes to family members. They upset, they infuriate, they judge and they always have something to say about your life – whether you want to hear it or not. But they are your family and you put up with it because when you really need them you know they will be there for you.

This is the premise of The Promise of Happiness as Louise McNeill makes the decision to return to her Irish hometown of Ballyfergus with her young son Oli to be near her family and start over. This is not a simple transition as her family still struggle to understand her decision to have a child alone and their judgement is far from subtle. But Louise soon discovers that she is not the only person in her family dealing with issues as she reacquaints herself with her two sisters and parents. Her elder sister Joanne is fighting with her husband a lot and getting overly snappy at her three children and her younger sister Sian is struggling to figure out the sudden reluctance her fiancé Andy has in setting a date for their wedding.

Kaye has created the perfect dysfunctional family unit in The Promise of Happiness from the hippy eco-warrier younger sister to the old fashioned and judgemental parents and the text mad teenage daughter Maddy. Their problems are realistic and you may want to scream into the book at them as you can see them making the wrong decisions, but you just know that you would probably have made the same mistakes yourself.

Review - The Christmas Cookie Club by Ann Pearlman

REVIEWED BY LISA WARD

Every year Marnie and her friends get together for a cookie party. Each member of the cookie club has to bake thirteen dozen cookies, which also need to be beautifully and unusually wrapped. They give the cookies to each other and also donate to a local hospice. Each cookie comes with a story, which is emblematic of the year that has just passed.

The cookie club or biscuits as we Brits call them, began sixteen years ago, and was a reason for twelve friends to ensure that no matter what life threw at them, they would get together after Thanksgiving to eat, drink and more importantly talk with each other.

The head cookie bitch is Marnie, and she is waiting news of whether or not her daughter’s pregnancy will be okay. Her daughter has had several miscarriages in the past and doctors have discovered a genetic defect, which has a fifty-fifty chance of being prevalent in every pregnancy. Marnie is on tenterhooks throughout the evening, waiting for a call from her daughter.

Charlene is slowly trying to recover from the sudden death of her son, Luke. Jeannie has discovered that Sue is having an affair with her father. Rosie knew, but didn’t tell her. They have fallen out, and the atmosphere is tense. Rosie has recently discovered that her husband doesn’t want children, as he has ‘been there done that’ with his first wife. But Rosie does. Will she be able to persuade him otherwise or will she be able to live with his decision?  Twelve stories to be told, twelve friends to tell them.

LBD Review - The Final Hitch by Samantha Scott-Jeffries

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR

We previously saw Izzy Mistry in I Do, I Do, I Do where she leaves her job and all that she knows in London, including her boyfriend Harrisson, and moves to Majorca to work as a wedding planner.  The Final Hitch begins with Izzy at her own wedding, but who is she getting married to?

 

Having received two proposals in one night, one from Tomas, the beautifully mannered, quiet son of her employer, Celia and the other from her elusive ex-boyfriend Harrisson, Izzy accepts Harrisson’s proposal and immediately gets caught up in the excitement of being able to plan her own wedding.

 

She buys a rundown house in the mountains where she pictures them both living happily ever after and busily begins organizing the renovations hoping to ensure that their home is ready for them to start their married life in as soon as possible. However, life isn’t that simple and as well as Harrisson having to take jobs back in England and being away more than she would like, Izzy begins to feel that maybe some of the people she’s dealing with aren’t as honest as they could probably be.

 

Celia becomes unwell and despite her best attempts, Izzy ends up spending time with Tomas and starts to wonder if maybe she’s made the wrong choice. Is she destined to marry Harrisson and is he all that he professes to be? Could she be making a terrible mistake not only with the house, but also marrying the wrong man?

 

I enjoyed this novel and the descriptions of Majorca, it’s beautiful landscapes and tasty dishes were beautifully written. I would have liked the book to have included more scenes with Tomas, but have to admit that I was happy with the man Izzy did eventually end up marrying.

 

Rating: 6/10