Novelicious - The Female Fiction and Chick Lit Blog

Novelicious' Most Awesome Christmas Gifts for Writers

Our pick of the best Christmas Gifts for the writerly types we love. Note to friends and family - any of these would do for me...

  1. A pen that is also a USB stick 

  Yes. It it a pen AND a USB flash drive. Genius. This one even comes with a laser pointer just in case you fancied doing a presentation of some sort and needed a laser pointer.

2.  A pretty laptop bag  

You have to lug your laptop around here, there and everywhere. May as well make sure it's safely packed away in something purty. John Lewis do a lovely selection. This Cath Kidston laptop bag is pretty damn cute. If you're after something a bit more serious then this purple Aspinal of London bag could certainly do the trick.

3. A Sticky Whiteboard Roll 

Remember this from Dragon's Den? Writers are forever making notes and plans and plots on bits of paper and post-its. These fantastic whiteboard sheets enable you to create a whiteboard anywhere in seconds. They're wipe clean and re-usable. This pack has 25 A1 sheets so you could pretty much make an entire whiteboard wall!

4. The Major Works of Charles Dickens 

Penguin have done this fabulous Charles Dickens Boxset. Great inspiration for any writer.

 

5. A Massage 

Being hunched over a laptop and typing away for hours on end can be pretty painful. Ease the tense muscles of your writerly loved one by getting them a nice massage. You can purchase gift vouchers from most local beauty salons.

6. A subscription to a Writing Magazine 

I got one of these for Christmas a couple of years ago and it's been absolutely invaluable. You can get a subscription to Writer's Forum or Writing Magazine for as little as £10 for 3 months from isubscribe. 

 

7. A selection of DVDs about writers/novelists 

Our suggestions -

• Misery (Haha!)

•  Miss Potter  

• Secret Window

• Capote  

• Adaptation

• As Good As It Gets

• Barton Fink

• The Shining

• Midnight In Paris

(All DVD links to Amazon)

 

8 - The Writers' & Artists' Yearbook 2012

 With a directory of agents, publishers, magazines, courses and competitions as well as articles on craft and industry, The Writers' and Artists' Yearbook really is a must-have book for anyone wishing to make a career out of writing. Amazon aren't dispatching these at the moment, but they are available from Waterstones.

9. Stamps

Posting submission to competitions, agents and publishers costs a LOT. Go to the Post Office and get your writer friend loads of stamps!

10. A Coffee Machine

It's lovely writing your novel in a coffee shop, but sometimes you just cannot be arsed to leave the house. Shove the instant stuff to the back of the cupboard and have some of that delicious fresh coffee at home. This Bosch Tassimo Coffee Maker has been reduced by almost £50 and is now £74.97. This gorgeous Gaggia Classic one has 45% off at the moment! Mum, If you're reading this - I'd like that one, please. 

Do you have any suggestions? What writerly things would you like for Christmas this year?

Novelicious Chats To...Miranda Dickinson

INTERVIEW BY CESCA MARTIN

Could you briefly tell us about your book 'It Started with a Kiss'?

 It Started With a Kiss is all about following your heart. It’s the story of Romily Parker, a jingle writer for a local radio station, who sings with her friends in a wedding band at weekends. On the last Saturday before Christmas, she has a brief encounter with a handsome stranger (shortly after disastrously declaring her love to her best friend Charlie). He kisses her and then disappears – so Romily pledges to spend the next twelve months searching for him…

Where did the inspiration for 'It Started with a Kiss' come from?

I wanted to write about ‘what-if’ moments and see what could happen if someone decided to pursue them rather than letting them pass. My favourite quote is from Emily Dickinson (no relation!): ‘I dwell in possibility’ – which I’ve actually included at the start of the novel – and I wanted to write about chasing possibilities in life. Romily is a sane individual, but the magical encounter with the handsome stranger at a time when she least expected it is enough to make her embark on a crazy quest to try to find him again. At the same time, Charlie, the guy she has been secretly in love with for three years, then begins to see her in a different light because she’s looking in a different direction (typical men!).

You have been vlogging your journey to publication, what has been the best moment so far?

There have been so many! What I’ve loved about vlogging this year is how involved everyone has been with it – asking brilliant questions and really deciding where I go and what I talk about for each episode. I think the big highlight for me was when I was asked to give an author talk at Kingswinford Library. If you know my books, you’ll know that my writing dream began at the age of five to write a story that would be good enough to grace my small local library’s shelves. It was probably my most emotional vlog – not least because the last thing they asked me to do that night was sign the library’s copies of Fairytale of New York and Welcome to My World. It was amazing to finally fulfill a lifelong ambition! 

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers? 

Just write. Don’t worry about whether you’re allowed to, or whether anybody will want to read it, or sabotage your efforts with self-doubt. Write because you love it and write stories that entertain you. I wrote Fairytale of New York completely for me and never thought anyone else would ever read it – but when I uploaded the manuscript to Authonomy.com it was noticed by my publisher and now it’s my career. I honestly believe that if I’d tried to write to a formula, or write what I thought a publisher wanted to read, my book wouldn’t have been picked up. Listen to advice from other writers about how they do it, then find your own way that works for you. And whenever those pesky doubts creep in (which they will), repeat this mantra: I am good enough, I can write and my stories are worth reading!

What is your typical writing day? 

I don’t have one! I would love to be the kind of writer who gets up early, works a nine-to-five writing day and then reclines with a glass of wine. But my brain doesn’t work like that, unfortunately! I work three days a week for a food research company, so for two days a week, plus evenings and weekends, I write. Frustratingly, I always seem to hit my stride after 9pm, so even on my two writing days I’ll invariably not be productive until then and end up writing late at night (or sometimes right through, if there’s a deadline looming). But then some of the scenes I’m most proud of (like Harri’s Kefalonia scenes with Blanche and the big final scene in Welcome to My World) have been written at some ungodly hour in the morning, so it obviously works for me! 

Do you read when you write and, if so, who? 

It’s always a tricky one about whether to read when I’m writing. I’m always scared that, (a) the great idea I have for my book has already been written by someone else; or, (b) I’ll unwittingly end up assimilating someone else’s great ideas into my novel because I’ve just read them! For that reason I never read chick-lit or romantic comedies when I’m writing, but I might read something by Jasper Fforde (whose wonderful, artfully constructed books I’m completely in love with) or Sir Terry Pratchett (who is the master of comedic timing, so great inspiration). I’ve also just discovered Ben Aaronovitch, who is fast becoming a favourite author. And I watch Gilmore Girls – a lot – because the pace of its script is brilliant and great inspiration for when I’m writing dialogue (that’s my excuse, anyway!)

What are you expecting later at your launch party? 

You know, I have no idea! I’ve only ever had one launch party before, which I organised myself for Welcome to My World’s launch last year. It was brilliant but a lot of hard work because I was signing books, checking that all the guests were having a good time and keeping an eye on the catering all at once! The best thing about the launch party this year is that I’ve been able to invite thirty people who watch my vlogs, follow me on twitter and facebook and receive my newsletter, so it will be a fantastic way for me to thank them in person for all their support which means so much to me through the year. 

What can you tell us about your next novel? 

My fourth novel will be called When I Fall in Love and features a motley crew of characters in a choir, rivalry, romance and the last item on a very important list. There may also be the odd jazz hand thrown in for good measure, too… I’m going to be vlogging about it (after my vlog viewers demanded I continue next year), so I’ll be sharing exclusive excerpts along the way.

Thanks for speaking to Novelicious Miranda! 

My pleasure, thank you so much for having me! x

It Started With A Kiss is published TODAY and you can find out more about Miranda from her  Coffee & Roses blog, website and follow her on Twitter @wurdsmyth  

To celebrate the publication of this fabulous novel, we have not one, but two giveaways! To be in with a chance of winning a signed copy of It Started With A Kiss & a signed copy of Miranda's album, please leave a comment telling us about your most memorable kiss.

If that wasn't enough, we're giving you a second chance to win a signed copy of both Miranda's book and album and all you have to do for this is re-tweet this interview. (Winners to both will be announced next Thursday).

You can buy, It Started With a Kiss at Amazon UK, Waterstones, The Book Depository (shipped worldwide), Play.com.

Miranda's other novels: Welcome to My World: The Book Depository & Fairytale of New York Amazon

Review - Wrapped Up In You by Carole Matthews

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR

Janie Johnson is single. She enjoys her job as a hairdresser and listening to her clients talking about their relationships, holidays and plans. She has her own cottage in a pretty village, which she shares with Archibald the Aggressive, a vicious ex-feral cat who doesn't take kindly to strangers, or anyone at all really. Her newly, single neighbour, Mike spends occasional evenings with her and together they watch DVDs and chat.

However, Janie doesn't enjoy being single. She's fed up with her clients trying to set her up with men they consider 'suitable'. She eventually gives in to her best friend Nina and goes on a blind date, but when that goes disasterously wrong and he refuses to believe she isn't just playing hard-to-get, Janie decides it's time to make a few changes to her life. She takes the advice of one of her regular clients, Mrs Silverton, and books a trip to the Maasai Mara.

Guest Post - A Different Kind of Hero by Carole Matthews

I’ve never written arrogant, smouldering male romantic heroes.  The men in my novels have always been ordinary, attainable men. They’re kind, flawed, trying to do their best. Sometimes they’ve been high-flying corporate men. Sometimes they’ve had no job at all. But they’ve always been the sort of men that most of us would come into contact with on a daily basis.

So it was a big departure for me in my latest - and nineteenth - novel Wrapped up in You to have a hero who is a fully-fledged Maasai warrior! When my heroine, Janie, goes in search of adventure on an African safari, she doesn’t expect to fall in love. Similarly, when I set out to write the character of Dominic, I had no idea that I would fall in love with him too.

I wanted to explore the fact that it’s so much easier these days to find love outside of our own small circles. It used to be the case that you’d meet someone at school, at work, in your own town, date and get married. But that’s not how it works now. Due to the internet, it’s now possible to forge relationships with people from all over the world.

But, as Janie finds out, falling in love with someone from another culture and on another continent can also be fraught with difficulties. Dominic doesn’t look the same as the usual romantic hero - he’s exceptionally tall, has a shaven head and wears traditional costume.  I also wanted to have some fun comparing a village in the Maasai Mara to a typically English village, so brought Dominic back to England.

This is a man who doesn’t conform to the norms of our society and, as well as making Janie fall head over heels in love, he sets the hearts of the good ladies of the The Nashley Church Flower Committee fluttering too with his easy charm.

He’s and incredibly strong, emotionally and physically, due to his Maasai culture. Theirs is a life of hardship and privation. Ladies, this man can wrestle lions with his bare hands! But he realises that he’s a man caught between two worlds and strives to blend the two without losing his identity.  The more I wrote about Dominic, the more I fell in love with him too.  He has a beautiful sense of fun and a fundamental commitment to his community.

At first, I thought that Dominic and Janie’s relationship might not survive, that the odds would be too great for them, but I just knew that Dominic would do all that he could to keep them together.

He might not wear a suit or work in high finance but, in some ways he’s the ultimate alpha male. Already my readers are asking me where they can find their very own Dominic. I hope when you read the book that you’ll fall in love with him too. I think he’s my most perfect romantic hero so far!

Thank you, Carole.

Wrapped Up In You is out 27th October.

You can find out more about Carole at her website, find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter: @carolematthews

Review - The Woman He Loved Before by Dorothy Koomson

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR  

Libby is in love with her handsome husband Jack. It wasn't love at first sight though when they first met at the car showroom, but they're together now, and happy. Or they are until they're involved in a car crash and Jack, who was driving and far less severely hurt than Libby, did something he can't forgive himself for. He has something to hide and knows that by telling Libby the truth, he's probably going ruin what they have together.

Libby is aware that Jack is still in love with his dead wife, Eve, and having seen a picture of their wedding day at his parent's home, she can understand why. He doesn't like speaking about Eve and Libby tries not to broach the subject, but when she's at home convalescing after the accident, she discovers Eve's diaries and as she secretly reads them, she learns the truth behind the woman who haunts their marriage.

All is not as it seems, Libby discovers, and as she reads on, she finds that she has far more to be worried about than the insinuations of the embittered policewoman who interviews her after her crash, and who had also been the investigating officer at Eve's untimely death several years before. Libby has to decide her best course of action, but it isn't easy when she's not sure exactly who she can trust.

This incredible story kept me spellbound from start to finish, and I know it's often written that something is 'unputdownable', but in the case of this book it really is. The twists and turns in the storyline had me gasping in surprise a couple of times and the ending made me cry.

It's a brilliant book and I'm thrilled that we have four copies to offer as a giveaway here at Novelicious. A definite 10\10 for me. Don't forget to leave a 'pick me' comment below to be in with a chance of winning one of the copies.

Review - The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows

REVIEWED BY CESCA MARTIN  

This book comes with a warning: DO NOT be put off by the mad title.  I have recommended this book to friends/family/hairdressers/perfect strangers and there is a universal reaction when I say the title.  They wrinkle their nose, nod and smile and secretly inside are thinking “I’m not going to read that”.  This is frankly one of the best books I have ever read.  And I’m not that into over-stating things.  It was a book that was so warm and funny that when I finished it I felt sad because I wanted the characters to be real, I wanted to meet them and hang out with them on Guernsey. 

The book is set just after the Second World War and is arranged as a series of letters.  The central character, a female author called Juliet Ashton, is looking for her next book subject.  A letter arrives from a man she has never met, Guernsey islander Dawsey Adams, and so begins an incredible correspondence between the two strangers.  He tells her about the experiences on the island that was under German occupation during the war, and the story behind the creation of a book club – the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.  Her interest piqued Juliet starts to write to other members of the society and we are introduced to a colourful host of characters – from pig farmers to children whose mothers were sent away to concentration camps in Europe.  Well aware that she has found the next subject of her book Juliet sets sail to Guernsey... 

Novelicious Chats To... Jenny Colgan

Jenny Colgan's latest novel is the delicious MEET ME AT THE CUPCAKE CAFE. 

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

 Yes, it’s quite regimented. We live in France because that’s where my husband works. We’re up, get my two boys to school, then hand over the baby to  a nice lady who comes round and does the housework and looks after her, then I go for a run along the beach near where we live, shower, change, write one project (normally an alternative writing pitch) from about 10.30 to 11.30 then go to my local coffee shop, have a coffee and a pain au chocolat and write my current novel till about 1pm. I’ll write 2000 words of it, usually. If I have time before my help leaves at 1.30 I try to do my piano practice. Then in the afternoon I hang out with the baby, shop, cook supper, see friends etc till it’s time to pick up the boys at 16.30; they often bring friends home to play in the garden. Supper is ideally outside when my husband gets home, quite early, then kids to bed by 7.30, some box set telly for us, then I like to read for an hour or so in the bath then we go REALLY early to bed- 9.30 is not unusual for us at all!

 

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

 Sometimes I do, usually for the men if I am looking for a particular type of romantic hero; someone boy bandish, or a kind of science geek or someone like that. For Do You Remember the First Time, Justin Timberlake was just getting famous whilst I was writing it, so I made the young hero quite a lot like him.  Sometimes you see a picture in the paper of someone who looks just like the person you’ve imagined in your head; that’s always really weird.

 

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

 That’s a hard question to answer. If you mean any novel written by a woman I suppose it would be something like The Fortunes of War, which I love like a bunch of friends I actually know, or Middlemarch. If you mean more ‘chick-litty’, then like a lot of people I adored I Don’t Know How She Does It, and The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic.

 

4. What is your writing process? Do you plan first of dive in? How many drafts do you do?

 I don’t plan, it always changes. I get on with it, then rewrite it as many times as I have to. I hate rewrites, but they are so necessary to get where you want to be. And my editor is brilliant, which always helps. Whatever she suggests is nearly always right.

 5. What was journey to being a published author?

 Everyone’s journey is different. My masterplan was to fail at almost everything else- sketch writing, stand up, poetry, cartooning, children’s books- then when I wrote the novel it got picked up and sold very quickly- I was taken on by the second agent I wrote to- but I had had a million people say no to me about other things first. My real fantasy was always to be Charles Schultz.

Review - The Novel in the Viola by Natasha Solomons

REVIEWED BY CESCA MARTIN

 
I adored Natasha Solomon’s quirky debut novel ‘Mr Rosenblum’s List’ and was delighted to receive ‘The Novel in the Viola’ which has now been chosen as a Richard and Judy Summer Read for 2011.  It is quite simply a brilliant book.

The novel centres around the story of Elise Landau, a Viennese Jewess, who applies to become a domestic help in England in 1938 to escape the troubles in Europe.  Her unintentionally humorous advert (“I will cook your goose”) is spotted by Mr Rivers – master of Tyneford House in Dorset, widower and father of one son and heir, Kit.  He invites her to join his household staff.  It is with dread that Elise leaves Vienna and her warm and talented family behind to set sail for England.  They promise she will join them in America when their visas arrive.  Julian, her father the famous writer, entrusts her with one gift before she leaves.  It is a copy of his latest novel, encased in a viola, that she must take for safe-keeping.  Clutching a small bag of belongings and the viola Elise arrives at Tyneford and has to make the transition from being waited on by others to waiting on others.  As the troubles in Europe worsen and war breaks out Elise seems stranded in Dorset, desperately seeking news of her family and trying to fit in in this foreign world. 

The book is a wonderful mix of light and dark.  Natasha Solomon’s ability to draw such bright, eccentric people allows the reader to fall in love with a host of characters.  The staff at Tyneford are fantastically well-drawn, notably Mr Wrexham - the butler in his white gloves keeping up impeccable standards and desperately trying to restore order in a chaotic world.  There are some marvellously catty scenes as we are introduced to the frosty aristocratic Diana Hamilton, not keen on being upstaged by a housemaid.  We get a real insight into a dying world, an old order.  Then there are the little glimpses of local history that drag you straight back into the 1930’s and wish you could experience it all for yourself.   The letters that fly back and forward from the two sisters as they wait to hear news of their parents are deeply moving and very real.  And always there is the novel in the viola.

This book is made all the more poignant when you learn that the fictional village of Tyneford is based on Tyneham - a village that was requisitioned during the Second World War.  The gentle humour spills from the page and the wonderful descriptions of Dorset countryside are spell-binding.  I was weeping in one corner of the library as I closed its pages and had that dreadful realisation that the characters in the pages were fictional and I could never actually meet them.  Tyneford casts a spell and there is no doubt I was caught in it.

10/10

You can find out more about Natasha and her books on her site here

Follow Natasha on Twitter @natashasolomons

Review - A Summer Fling by Milly Johnson

Last night I said,"I'm just going to flick through the first few pages before I go to bed."

I emerged from Milly Johnson's latest book at 5:30 this morning. Utterly knackered, but with a big smile on my face.

When dynamic, power-dressing Christie blows in like a warm wind to take over their department, five very different women find themselves thrown together at work. But none of them could have predicted the fierce bond of friendship that her leadership would inspire...Anna, 39, is reeling from the loss of her fiance, who ran off with a much younger woman. Her pride in tatters, these days Anna finds it difficult to leave the house. So when a handsome, mysterious stranger takes an interest in her, she's not sure whether she can learn to trust again? Then there's Grace, in her fifties, trapped in a loveless marriage with a man she married because, unable to have children of her own, she fell in love with his motherless brood. Grace worries that Dawn is about to make the same mistake: orphaned as a child, engaged to love-rat Calum, is Dawn more interested in the security that comes with his tight-knit, boisterous family? When a sexy, footloose rock singer catches her eye, will Dawn have the courage to follow her heart? At 28, Raychel is the youngest member of their little gang. And with a loving husband, Ben, and a cosy little nest for two, she would seem to be the happiest. But what dark secrets are lurking behind this perfect facade, that make sweet, pretty Raychel so guarded and unwilling to open up? Under Christie's warm hand, the girls soon realise they have some difficult choices to make. Indeed, none of them quite realised how much they needed the sense of fun, laughter, and loyalty that abounds when five women become friends. It's one for all, and all for one!

This book was so wonderful that it's hard to know where to begin with the review. First of all, Milly Johnson is a natural born storyteller. The highs and lows of each women's story were written beautifully, and with excellent timing and pace. Pageturner...Big tick. I became completely engaged in what was going on, so much so that the book may as well have been glued to my hands. I simply could not put it down.

Secondly, the characters were a joy to read. The book has a fairly large cast, which isn't something I'm usually very fond of, but each character was so distinctive that they could have held up an entire novel all on their own. While the main characters were utterly, believeably wonderful (my favourite was Anna), it was the supporting cast that really shone for me. Muriel and the Crooke family, Gordon, Malcolm and Jane, were all characters that we've come across in real life, but none of them were cliched. As usual with Milly's books, the romantic interests were something else. Sweet, sexy Ben, country singing Al, and dark vampire Vlad were just brilliant. Literally a total swoonfest. Characters who I want to see more of...big fat tick.

Thirdly, this book took me on an entire spectrum of emotions. I got the rage, I chuckled, and welled up and I hoped. The humour lay primarily in the characters as opposed to the plot, and parts of the dialogue had me squawking. I mentioned in my review of A Spring Affair that Milly Johnson must be a bit of a chatterbox. Now I think she's a lurker too. In the nicest possible way, I'm not sure how somebody can produce such warm, real, funny dialogue without spending a lot of time lurking around other peoples convos and jotting down notes.There were points at which I actually wanted to get into the conversations going on between the characters! Took me on a journey...another big tick.

Finally, while being a stand out romantic comedy, this book also touched on darker issues such as bullying, racism and miscarraige. To be able to write this in a way that adds to the emotionality of the audience's experience, while not becoming completely depressing is very impressive. This book made me want to send out a copy to everyone who has ever dismissed chick lit as a vapid genre and say "There you go! Take That!". I can't do that though, because the postage would be expensive and I'm skint.

So. Having gushed like a big fat chick lit nerd, I would like to finish by saying BUY THIS BOOK! I am fervently recommending it.

A huge 10/10

Order a Summer Fling!

Visit Milly's Website

Hidden Gems #3 and #4

It's a double whammy! I appear to have missed last week's Hidden Gems feature so here we go with our next two books you may not have read yet, and probably should!

Hidden Gems #3 Playing James by Sarah Mason

I came across this book a couple of years ago (not sure how) and it has since become a firm favourite. It's reminiscent of Sophie Kinsella in its style. The protagonist is cute and funny, and it's full of zany escapades and originality.

The official blurb reads...

Holly Colshannon is a young journalist who thinks her career is about to take a terminal nosedive when she is moved from covering 'pet deaths' for her local Bristol paper and made Crime Correspondent - a poisoned chalice if ever there was one. However, a brilliant idea from the new police PR officer sees Holly shadowing a detective and writing a diary column about his working life. Detective James Sabine is bit of a sour puss - although he does have very nice green eyes - and he's furious that he has been landed with magnificently accident-prone Holly especially since her arrival comes six weeks before his wedding to faultless Fleur. Holly, however, has a career to think about and this infuriating man is not going to stand in her way. Meanwhile, her bosses at the newspaper realise that the column is proving extremely popular with the readers who are waiting for something romantic to happen between the handsome detective and the nice young reporter. With only days to go to the wedding Holly realises she's been waiting for the same thing...

HIDDEN GEMS #4 Snap Happy by Fiona Walker

This is the second Fiona Walker book I ever read and it's just brilliant. It's crammed full of Walker's trademark wit and dramatics, and if my memory serves me, it has some cracking sex scenes. If you haven't read any Fiona Walker stuff, then this is a good place to start. The protagonist, Juno is one of my stand out female fiction heroines. The fact that I remember her so vividly (given how much chick lit i've read) is testament to Fiona Walkers ability to produce characters you can really believe in.

The blurb reads...

A budding stand-up comic, Juno is voluptuous, hedonistic, funny and terminally untidy. On her thirtieth birthday, she decides to have a wild one-night-stand to mark the occasion. But seducing her new flatmate before he's had a chance to unpack his belongings is not a wise move.

Just over from New York, Jay Mulligan is intense, mysterious and, as Juno joyously discovers, far better than breakfast in bed. It's only when they both get out of that bed on the wrong side three days later that the problems start ...

Have you read any of these books? Do you have your own suggestions for future Hidden Gems? Let us know (you don't have to, but it would be nice of you did!).

Hidden Gems # 1 - Wish Upon a Star by Olivia Goldsmith

Hidden Gems is a brand new weekly feature here at Novelicious. It allows us to cover, review or suggest books that our readers may not have happened upon.

 It's so easy to miss out on older releases, or books that weren't publicised heavily, and this seems such a shame. We hope to rectify this this with our suggestions of books you may not have read and probably should!

Our first Hidden Gem is Wish Upon A Star by Olivia Goldsmith, author of The First Wives club and The Switch. Wish Upon A Star was published shortly after Goldsmith's untimely death.

 For Claire, a secretary from Staten Island who takes the ferry each morning into Manhattan, it's spent working 9 to 5 at a law firm, listening to her friend's disastrous love life and reading romantic novels, desperately wishing that her life could be as full of excitement as the heroines featured. The only highlight is catching an occasional glimpse of devastingly sexy law partner Michael. Until the day Michael offers her the chance of a trip to London -- all expenses paid. When Claire sets foot on British soil she falls head over heels in love -- with a country. From red double-deckers to afternoon tea, she's finally found her home. Friends, family and even Michael are abandoned as she rents a room and sets out to make a whole new life as an American in London. But she reckons without the obstructive efforts of a very strait laced Englishman!

I'm not sure how I got my hands on this book, but I'm so very glad I did. It's one that I read over and over again whenever I'm down or want to escape into a whole other world.

This book has charm, and warmth and the most lovely chick lit protagonist I have ever had the pleasure of reading.

I would totally recommend it. You can order it here or from the Hidden Gems section of The Novelicious Bookshop.

If you do buy this book, or have already read it, I would love to hear your thoughts!

Review - Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

 To kick off our regular YA Wednesday, we are dedicating the whole of today to Lauren Oliver and her fantastic debut book - Before I Fall ! The book is released in March of this year, and is properly amazing.

Here's the review...

 
They say that when you die your whole life flashes before your eyes, but that's not how it happened for me

Sam Kingston is dead. Except she isn't.

On a rainy February night, eighteen-year-old Sam is killed in a horrific car crash. But then the impossible happens: she wakes up in her own bed, on the morning of the day that she died.

Forced to live over and over the last day of her life the drive to school, skipping class, the fateful party she desperately struggles to alter the outcome, but every morning she wakes up on the day of the crash.

This is a story of a girl who dies young, but in the process learns how to live. And who falls in love... a little too late.

BEFORE I FALL is a brave and complex novel about the territory between life and death. As astonishing as The Lovely Bones and as luminous as Jenny Downham s Before I Die, it will make you want to live every day as if it were your last.

Every once in a while you read a book that takes your breath away. You finish the last page and sit staring into space for a few minutes thinking, ‘ Wow’. And then you think about how long an amount of time it would be appropriate to wait before you read it again.

This is what happened between me and Lauren Oliver’s debut novel – Before I Fall.

The book was sent to me for review and, to be honest, I wasn’t that interested. It didn’t really tie-in with what we were already reviewing on Novelicious, plus I had never really read any YA up until that point.

 

Cloth Bound Classic Book Covers at Penguin

I love these! I think they're designed by Coralie Bickford Smith who also did these ones.

The collection includes such classics as Wuthering Heights, Pride and Predjudice and Jane Eyre. I want them.

To find out more info, or to buy these beauties just click here!

Novelicious Adores... Jenny Colgan

Jenny's Bio:

Born in Ayrshire in 1972, Jenny Colgan worked in the health service for six years after graduating from Edinburgh University, moonlighting as a cartoonist and stand-up comic.Her first novel, Amanda's Wedding, published in 1999, was an instant bestseller, and has been followed by many more romantic comedies, including; Talking to Addison, Looking for Andrew McCarthy, West End Girls, Operation Sunshine, Do you Remember the First Time, Working Wonders, and Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend. He new novel will be called The Good, The Bad and The Dumped!

Why Jenny is Adored:

The girl is crazy funny. Seriously. Her books have a very real, dry, fearless humour, which makes me want to read them over and over again. Talking to Addison is perhaps my favourite romantic comedy novel purely for the whole party scene and the dancing James', a scene that is comedy gold and executed perfectly!

If you haven't read Jenny Colgan's work, I would urge you to pick one up as soon as possible (Amanda's Wedding is probably a good place to start) and be prepared to laugh out loud a lot. Beware, though. You may develop a bit of a girl crush on her.

To visit Jenny's Site click here!