Novelicious - The Female Fiction and Chick Lit Blog

Review - The Unseen by Katherine Webb

REVIEWED BY CESCA MARTIN

 

It is 2011 an unknown soldier from the First World War is unearthed in Northern France.  Found with a sealed tin containing two letters from one ‘H.Canning’ the quest to discover the identity of this mystery soldier is taken on by Leah – a writer searching for a new story.  As she delves into the past, chasing ghosts, she uncovers all sorts of other secrets buried with him.  The rest of the book is set in the hot summer of 1911.  The newly-wed Hester Canning has employed a feisty maid, Cat Morley, fresh out of Holloway, to help her run her household.  Her husband, Reverend Albert Canning, invites Robin Durrant, a theosophist, to stay and together they try to witness sightings of elementals, fairies, in the meadows around Thatcham.  Years later Leah tries to discover just what went on that summer in 1911 and what happened to all involved.  

 

Review - There's Always Tomorrow by Pam Weaver

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR

It doesn’t seem to matter what Dottie does, or how devoted she is to her husband, Reg, she never manages to please him. Reg isn’t the same man she married. He’s changed by his terrible experiences during World War II and far from being the kind, loving husband she remembers, he’s now violent and spiteful. Dottie has been brought up by an aunt who taught her that you have to find a way to live with your choices and marriages are supposed to be worked at and not given up on.

Desperate for a baby, Dottie knows that she is never going to experience motherhood with her relationship the way it is with Reg. One day Reg receives a letter and Dottie learns that he has fathered a child during the war. Reg decides to take on his newly orphaned daughter and whether Dottie likes it or not, she is forced to accept his eight-year-old child into her home. Things don’t turn out how Reg expects them to and it soon dawns on Dottie that the care of this child is going to be down to her. There are many aspects to Reg’s nature that she is oblivious to and as time goes on Dottie realizes that the man she thought she married is capable of cruelty she could never have imagined.

This book is set in the fifties. Dottie and Reg live in their cottage in a small village where everyone knows one another and each other’s business. Their lifestyle is quiet and gentile and their home is comfortable. Appearance is everything and people are quick to make assumptions about each other. Behind the scenes though, Dottie’s life is very different to the one she shows publicly. The story begins with Dottie welcoming her husband home from work and immediately we see his vicious, cruel streak and apparent need to humiliate his devoted wife. Reg has a dark side that becomes clearer as the story moves along. The reader learns before Dottie the depths he’s willing to stoop to, to get what he wants from life and those around him.

I must admit that I started reading this book thinking it would be a gentle story about two fairly average people in England, but as Reg’s true nature becomes clear and we discover more about his past we also see Dottie beginning to acknowledge just how bad things really are between them and how little she really knows about her husband.

I really enjoyed, There’s Always Tomorrow, and despite focusing on the darker aspects of one of the main characters, the author also brings the atmosphere of the fifties vividly to life, with the fashions of the time and the simple pleasures that people seemed to enjoy in that less frenetic era. The story might deal with a darker side of human nature, but it also includes devoted loyalty and strength to over come the odds when it seems that there’s no way out. The ending was uplifting and satisfying and I definitely want to read Pam Weaver’s other books.

8/10

You can find out more about the author and her other books here.

Review - Tom-All-Alone's by Lynn Shepherd

Reviewed by Amanda Keats

Policeman turned Private Detective, Charles Maddox has been hired to find a man - just to find him and pass on his whereabouts to his new employer. But his new employer - lawyer Edward Tulkinghorn - underestimates just how enquisitive Maddox really is. As he begins to delve deeper in his search for the truth, Maddox will put his life more at risk with every new piece of information he finds.

 

Author Lynn Shepherd's first book took a Jane Austen classic and twisted it with an Agatha Christie style murder mystery. This time, she has delved even deeper into the seedy underworld of Dickensian London - a world full of dirt and grime, poverty, prostitutes as young as twelve, violent murders and misunderstood mental illnesses.

 

For fans of the lighter work of Charles Dickens, be warned that this is no A Christmas Carol. Inspired by Bleak House, Tom-All-Alone's is not for the faint-hearted. The book opens in a foggy graveyard with the discovery of an unofficial grave full of babies and later contains some detailed accounts of mutilations and nasty murders. Behind all this violence though is a fascinating central character in Charles Maddox. Charles is a stubborn man and his determination as the story develops is both enfuriating and endearing. His relationship with his great-uncle Maddox - who is going senile in his old age - adds a certain depth to his character as he has idolized Maddox his entire life and struggles as the mind of his idol quickly deteriorates. Though there are brief moments of lucidity where the two great minds can discuss their findings, the moments where Maddox reverts back to his senility are heart-breaking.

 

Review - The Winter Lodge by Susan Wiggs

REVIEWED BY KIRA SLAUGHTER

Jenny’s lived her whole life in Willow Lake, finding safety and warmth running her little bakery. Until one winter she loses everything in a devastating house fire. Sifting through the ashes she finds a chance for a different life...

Whilst touched by the love of the community and surprised by the attention of her gorgeous rescuer, Rourke McKnight, Jenny’s heart is caught by another treasure. An undiscovered family of strangers waiting to make her their own.

But in chasing one dream another may slip through Jenny’s fingers. If she stays in Willow Lake long enough for the snow to settle, happiness is waiting to find her.

Susan Wiggs is definitely one of my new favourite authors. After reading her last two books, Summer at Willow Lake and Just Breathe, I couldn’t wait to read this one. It’s based around the occupants of a small town in New York called Avalon.

Review - The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

REVIEWED BY AMANDA KEATS

Ex-Marine Logan Thibault has walked for days to get to where he's going with nobody for company but his faithful dog Zeus. He carries very few possessions but is never far away from the photo that he believes kept him safe through war. He is on a mission to find the woman in the photo and thinks he knows where she is...

 

When Logan meets Beth, the woman in the photo, he decides not to tell her the truth behind his arrival but stays to work at the kennels she runs. Beth lives with her young son Ben and Nana, who has raised her since her parents' death at a young age. Ben is adorable and just the right amount of geeky. He plays chess rather than sports - which annoys dad Clayton immensely. But Beth does not realise the full extent of her ex-husband's power over her little family and just how much influence he has had over her life since their divorce. And as her relationship with Logan begins to blossom, Clayton does not take too kindly to the new man in Ben's life. As the book develops, there is a horrid feeling of imminent doom on every page. Even when Beth and Logan are happy, you are just waiting for it to all go horribly wrong. This tension makes the book compelling reading as it's difficult to see where it will all end.

 

Everybody seems to be dealing with their inner demons in The Lucky One. Logan is traumatised by thoughts and visions of his friends who have died at war, Beth is struggling being a lonely single parent, even Nana is recovering from a stroke. Clayton, though, is by far the most fascinating character of all. He is an incredibly dark character but manages to somehow avoid being a stereotypical villain. He loves his son but he wishes he were more "masculine", he knows that being married to Beth wasn't right for either of them, but he can't stop lusting after her. His family are all officials in the town - his father is the sheriff, his grandfather a judge. He has come to believe that he can get away with anything he likes, because he is a Clayton, but always gives the impression of a respected law official. This outwardly good and caring persona makes him all the more menacing.

Review - Miracle on Regent Street by Ali Harris

REVIEW BY CESCA MARTIN

The cover, which the whole team at Novelicious think is simply gorgeous, sums up this read.  It is warm, classic and adorable. 

Ali Harris’s debut centres on Evie Taylor, the forgettable stockroom girl at Hardy’s – a lavish London department store that has survived two World Wars but doesn’t seem to be able to cope in the 21^st Century.  When Evie overhears a conversation that Hardy’s might close she sets about saving the store that she loves.  As this secret elf swings into action the store is transformed into a hive of activity.  But will Evie take the credit for all this good work, or will she simply melt into the background once more?  

This is perfect for beating off the wintery blues.  Anyone who loves reading about vintage clothes, women with style and gorgeous, slick Americans called Joel, should find this book a perfect fit!  I absolutely loved the descriptions of the clothing, Ali Harris conjuring up images of elegant women in glamorous, feminine dresses oozing sophisticated cool – always with a dash of red lipstick in a bygone age, and then made them modern-day cool. 

Review - To Love and To Cherish by Lyn Andrews

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR   

Gloria and Betty Jenkins have a simple, but ordered life at the home they share with their mother, Sal, and father, Harry, in 1920s Liverpool. Harry is away at sea for months at a time as Chief Steward on the SS Amazonia. Whenever he arrives back in Liverpool the family host an extravagant party for their neighbours and Harry’s sister and her husband. Harry has a good job and is proud to show those around him that his family want for nothing.

When the next-door neighbour dies leaving a young daughter, Rose, alone with no family, Sal takes her in. Rose's old home is soon rented by a new family and when their eldest son, Alfie, notices Gloria, it’s not long before the two begin courting.

However, Harry listens when his pretentious sister insists that Gloria can do far better than end up with Alfie. She asks Gloria to join her on a transatlantic trip to New York and it’s during the voyage that Gloria meets and falls in love with Grant, a wealthy New Yorker. On the last day of her trip, Grant asks Gloria to marry him and much to her aunt's delight, she accepts.

Harry is thrilled that his daughter will be mixing with high society and enjoying wealth his own wife could never imagine. As Gloria and Grant bid farewell to her family, no one can imagine the future she has to look forward to. Artie is left heart-broken, but knows he can't compete with someone as sophisticated and wealthy as Grant. Betty decides that she wants to follow her father's example and go to sea, but she has to wait until she's eighteen before she can follow her dream. Gloria loves her new life and her husband ensures she has everything she could wish for, that is until 1929 when the stock market crashes and everything changes for them all.

Lyn Andrews has written many wonderful books and this story was everything I’d hoped it would be. From the difficulties of living in 1920s Liverpool to the excitement of New York high society, it brings the characters and places to life beautifully.

8/10

You can find out more about Lyn Andrews here and buy a copy of her book here and here.

Review - It Started With A Kiss by Miranda Dickinson

REVIEWED BY CESCA MARTIN

Like your books like you like your slippers (big and warm and fluffy?) then you’ll love this latest effort from Miranda Dickinson.  This is a perfect novel to tuck up with in front of a crackling Christmas fire.  Think you’ve tried everything in the pursuit of love?  Think again and meet... Romily Parker.

As a singer in a wedding band Romily really has seen what love is and she knows that she loves her best friend Charlie.  And the thing to do when you love your best friend is to tell him, right?  The book opens with Romily’s dramatic disclosure, and Charlie’s subsequent shocked reaction.  As Romily staggers out blindly (quite literally - she ends up falling head first into a stall of fluffy toys) she ends up in the arms of a stranger.  And then it happens.  The kiss.  A kiss from a perfect stranger.  And as soon as the kiss is over the mystery man disappears into the crowds of the Christmas market and Romily does what any normal girl would do.  She embarks on a year long quest to find him...

This book was everything you want from a romantic read.  A heroine you instantly warm to, a gaggle of comedy friends (the feisty, sarcastic Wren was my personal favourite) and some toe-curling moments as you join Romily on her quest to find PK (Phantom Kisser).  The relationship between Romily and Charlie, fraught with the usual ups and downs of any friendship, was wonderfully real and the banter between the band members was often amusing.  I loved the modern touches; the emails, tweets and posts from the blog community that Romily relied on.  But most of all I loved reading about a girl on a singular mission who attacks it with passion, enthusiasm and... a hint of madness.  If you want to read about a happy ending, go out and buy ‘It Started with a Kiss’.

8/10

To discover more about Miranda and her other books you can visit her website and follow her on Twitter @wurdsmyth

MORE ABOUT IT STARTED WITH A KISS (FROM AMAZON)

Review - The First Wife by Emily Barr

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR

Lily Button has had a strange upbringing. She’s spent her teenage years looking after her grandparents and having been happy cosseted away in their cottage since they took her in when she was eight, she’s seen no reason to make any friends. Now they’re both dead, within months of each other, and she’s discovered that the cottage she assumed she’d always live in has to be sold to cover huge debts. Lily can’t imagine what her grand parents could ever have spent their money on. They always took care to live as frugally as possible, without televisions, holidays and even growing and eating their own vegetables, but despite their unextravagant way of life, she still ends up without any money, or home, and no one to turn to for help. 

She moves into the garden shed, but is eventually forced to move out and try to plan some sort of future. Lily is befriended by Al, who it turns out knows better than most what it’s like to hit rock bottom. He saves her from drastic action and through his advice she ends up taking a room in a house with a friendly family. She initially finds it strange, but gradually becomes used to the way the couple and their children live. Lily wants to go to university, but first she needs to make some money. She takes on cleaning work and her favourite job is cleaning the beautiful home of ex-soap star, Harry Summer and his beautiful wife, Sarah.

Review - Diamond Star Halo

REVIEWED BY CESCA MARTIN 

This novel is narrated by Halo Llewellyn who is growing up on ‘Rock Farm’ – a rural recording studio in Wales.  A girl used to being surrounded by stars Halo is hard-pushed to be impressed, but when one of the visiting singers dies in childbirth leaving behind a beautiful baby boy in the form of Fred, Halo is dazzled by this special little boy.  As Fred grows into a talented, glamorous man, surrounded by screaming teenagers, Halo joins his mass of admirers.  But the problem with falling in love with your charismatic almost-brother seems to be that it can never be a secret. In the end, the whole world has to know.

From the start this novel, Halo’s story, pulses with the music of the late 70’s – a girl “who learned to walk to Get It On”.  Her unconventional family – an Elvis-obsessed Gran surrounded by dogs and a cross-dressing older brother called Vince – provide constant entertainment and the romp through the years is always accompanied by the mood of a great soundtrack.  Murray’s own background – growing up on at the legendary Rockfield Studios where Freddie Mercury famously part-wrote ‘Bohemian Rhapsody in earshot –  filters through the pages and makes this book absolutely genuine.  The mixture of farm life and rock stars is depicted through a simple child’s eyes and Halo herself is a very sympathetic character.  In less expert hands the eccentric moments might prove too overwhelming but in fact this novel is genuinely fun and off-the-wall.  The relationship between Fred and Halo is suitably fascinating and doesn’t distract from the other storylines.   

This book is warm, it’s wryly observed and it is a must for any music lovers. 

8/10

You can find out more about Tiffany Murray on her website

Review - Any Dream Will Do by Maria Duffy

REVIEWED BY KIRA SLAUGHTER

Tis the season to be jolly, but Jenny Breslin is feeling closer to gloomy. Everything about her life- its complete lack of romance, her boring job at the bank- has been untouched by holiday magic. The thought of another festive season with her larger-than-life mother and Harry, the new boyfriend, fills her with dread.

But that’s in Real Life.

On Twitter, things really couldn’t be better. Here Jenny is a career high-flyer with an amazing love life and a jam packed social calendar.

Then, one drunken night, Jenny sends out a tweet to her online pals Zahra, Fiona and Kerry suggesting a fun-filled few days in Dublin. As her virtual life careers towards a collision with real life, she’s feeling the heat. But it remains to be seen just how upfront her fellow Tweeters have been about their own lives.

As the weekend unfolds and secrets are shared, Jenny starts to see that while she’s been busy dreaming, life has been passing her by.

But is it too late for her to recognise what was under the mistletoe all that time?

At the launch for Jane Fallon’s new book, myself and the other girls from the site got chatting to Mel Sharratt (@writermels on Twitter if you want to give her a follow!) who is great friends with Maria Duffy, who wrote Any Dream Will Do. She was telling us all about the book and I immediately requested a review copy as it sounded right up my street.

Review - The Magic of Christmas by Trisha Ashley

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR 

Lizzie Pharamond spends her time trying out new recipes, taking care of her son and putting up with her increasingly distant husband, Tom. She's also a member of the Christmas Pudding Circle, who meet from August until Christmas in their small village of Middlemoss.

When Jasper is rushed to hospital with meningitis, Tom takes his time going to visit his son. Nick, on the other hand, races across Europe to get to the hospital as soon as possible. When Tom does eventually arrive, he finds Lizzie being comforted by Nick and instead of asking how his son is, demands to know what his cousin is doing there. It's then that Lizzie realises it's time to put her miserable marriage behind her. 

Tom spends as little time with her and Jasper as possible. He insinuates that Jasper is Nick's son rather than his own and when Tom loses his temper and Lizzie ends up with bruising to her face, she turns to her best-friend Annie. She tells Annie that as soon as Jasper leaves for university she's going to have to move out of her cottage and away from Tom to go and find somewhere new to start again. So far, Tom hasn't told Jasper of his suspicions about his parentage, but she knows it's only a matter of time and can't bear the thought of Jasper having to deal with such an accusation.

Review - Breakfast at Darcy's by Ali McNamara

REVIEWED BY KIRA SLAUGHTER

When Darcy McCall loses her beloved Aunt Molly, she doesn’t expect any sort of inheritance- let alone a small island! Located off the west coast of Ireland, Tara hasn’t been lived on for years, but according to Molly’s will Darcy must stay there for twelve months in order to fully inherit. It’s a big shock. And she’s even more shocked to hear she needs to persuade a village full of people to settle there too.

Darcy must leave behind her independent city life and swap stylish heels for muddy wellies. Between sorting everything from the plumbing to the pub, she meets confident, charming Conor and sensible, stubborn Dermot- but who will make her feel really at home?

 Ali McNamara’s debut novel From Notting Hill with Love... Actually was one of my favourite books of last year, as it combined two of my favourite things - Chick Lit and Chick Flicks. I couldn’t think of anything better than combining the two into a neatly packed novel. So when I heard that there was to be a new book released this year, I knew I had to review it for Novelicious.

Review - I’m not Scared by Niccolo Ammanti

REVIEWED BY CESCA MARTIN

So I’m feeling a little bit naughty because the book I’ve just finished reading is not strictly classed as ‘Women’s Fiction’, and it is not even by a woman so I can’t wiggle out of this easily.  So all I can say is I am a woman, a woman recommended I read this book and I think lots of women will love it.  So there!

The book, by Italian author Niccolo Ammanti and translated by Jonathan Hunt, is a brilliant, edge-of-your-seat read.  The book is the story of 9 year old Michele who is living in a small hamlet in Italy in the hot summer of 1978.  After losing a dare Michele finds himself making a grim and intriguing discovery in an abandoned farmhouse near his home.  This discovery threatens to overturn Michele’s world and when strangers appear in his home it seems others are in on the secret too.   

This is a gripping, exciting read.  It is a book you want to run back to, stay in the bath for, or miss your stop for, to ensure you make it to the end.  The central character Michele is a likeable hero and his voice had echoes of John Boyne’s central character in his novel, ‘The Boy in Striped Pyjamas’.  The plot twists were exciting and believable and the choices Michele is forced to make remind the reader this is more than simply a well told story.  The book examines people living in difficult circumstances and the fact that sometimes you have to do the right thing at the expense of all else.  It is witty, true, moving and fast paced.