Creature Comforts by Trisha Ashley

***** 5 stars
Can't begin to tell you how happy I was that I was able to go from a new release of Katie Fforde to a new release by Trisha Ashley in same month:) I really loved this book with the characters that were all so well developed and the small town with all it's many traditions. I especially enjoyed the bit of suspense and twists this book had to offer. I am sure Trisha Ashley fan will enjoy and if not already one, you soon will be ;)

Book Jacket Summary:
Fall in back in love with life in this gripping read about fate and second chances.
The eagerly awaited new novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author.
Izzy has broken off her engagement to her feckless fiancée Kieran and returned to her childhood home – the sleepy village of Halfhidden.
She soon realizes that life in the village is anything but peaceful – for one thing she’s living with her mad aunt Debo and her pack of dogs, and for another, Izzy has a lot of unanswered questions.
When she was a teenager, Izzy was involved in a terrible accident, involving various inhabitants of Halfhidden. As she sets out to discover what actually happened on the night of the accident, she realizes that her painful past is actually standing in the way of her future happiness. So when a handsome stranger comes to Halfhidden will she let love back into her life?

A Vintage Wedding by Katie Fforde

**** 4 stars
I know I have said many times before that I am a big fan of Katie Fforde's. I will admit that I was anticipating this release and had pre-ordered it. I made the mistake of going and looking at the reviews, which were very mixed, so I worried that it wouldn't be as good as I hoped and was worried about picking up to read, but because I am such a fan I read anyway. I am pretty sure anything Katie Fforde churns out is going to be solid and this is a perfect example. "A vintage Wedding" wouldn't be my favorite Katie Fforde but it was still a great read :)

Book Jacket Summary:
In a small Cotswold country town, Beth, Lindy and Rachel are looking for new beginnings.
So they set up in business, organising stylish and perfectly affordable vintage weddings.
Soon they are busy arranging other people's Big Days.

What none of them know is that their own romances lie waiting, just around the corner ...

The Year of Taking Chances by Lucy Diamond

**** 4 stars
I really liked this book, it had the feel of a Trisha Ashley or a Katie Fforde book. I felt the story line was good and something that could be possible. I really enjoyed the dynamic between Gemma, Caitlin and Saffron, it's always wonderful to find those type of people that you are able to easily bond. :)

Book Jacket Summary:
It's New Year's Eve, and Gemma and Spencer Bailey are throwing a house party. There's music, dancing, champagne and all their best friends under one roof. It's going to be a night to remember.

Also at the party is Caitlin, who has returned to the village to pack up her much-missed mum's house and to figure out what to do with her life; and Saffron, a PR executive who's keeping a secret which no amount of spin can change. The three women bond over Gemma's dodgy cocktails and fortune cookies, and vow to make this year their best one yet.

But as the following months unfold, Gemma, Saffron and Caitlin find themselves tested to their limits by shocking new developments. Family, love, work, home - all the things they've taken for granted - are thrown into disarray. Under pressure, they are each forced to rethink their lives and start over. But dare they take a chance on something new?

Three Amazing Things About you by Jill Mansell

*****5 stars
If you have taken a look back at previous posts you will see that I am a huge Jill Mansell fan. I found her books 5 years ago and can't seem to get enough of them. Each time she has a new release coming out, I am sure to pre-order it and have it marked on my calendar, there are only a few authors I do this with. I always worry that I anticipate these book so much it will be a let down. Like that movie you are dying to go see and half way through, you are wishing time would fast forward and wonder how you had gotten it so wrong, those tricky trailers ;) I have to say that once again I am not disappointed. I have noticed through the years that Mansell's writing has always had substance, but in her last several books, she really has grown as an author and each book keeps besting the previous, although her bar is held so high that even her earlier books score high by my taste.
I don't discuss myself much as I use this blog to keep account of all the books I have read, so I am not rereading, as well as know which one to come back to and read again. I also would love any suggestions by other readers, or opinions :)With that being said, I feel this book struck a special chord with me. I have a beautiful 3 year old grand daughter. She is Our Miracle. She will be turning 4 in the spring and is this beautiful (oops I've already said that, but she really is)active little girl, that just happens to have serious health issues. My granddaughter will be needing new kidneys before she is a teenager. We have some time until this becomes a reality but in the meantime she has many other health hurdles to straddle, none easier to go through. I truly enjoyed this book as it was very uplifting and done in a very tasteful way, that it was an enjoyable read. I think many books, tap a place with us. It could be a character, thinking that "Wow, I totally would want her as a friend" or "that sounds like me and my girls". It can be a plot of something fresh you have been through you can relate to or even a place. For me, that connection, the feeling you get while reading, the understanding, that is what makes a book great :)

Book Jacket Summary:
Hallie has a secret. She's in love. He's perfect for her in every way, but he's seriously out of bounds. And her friends aren't going to help her because what they do know is that Hallie doesn't have long to live. Time is running out...
Flo has a dilemma. She really likes Zander. But his scary sister won't be even faintly amused if she thinks Zander and Flo are becoming friends - let alone anything more.
Tasha has a problem. Her new boyfriend is the adventurous type. And she's afraid one of his adventures will go badly wrong.
THREE AMAZING THINGS ABOUT YOU begins as Hallie goes on a journey. A donor has been found and she's about to be given new lungs. But whose?

I'll Take New York by Miranda Dickinson

**** 4 stars
Really liked this book. I am officially a Miranda Dickinson fan. This is the second book in the last couple months I have read of her and I can say that they both have been solid reads. I love her characters and her descriptions of the city in this book. I also loved the ongoing question on what's in store for Bea. My only complaint is I didn't realize that I should have read "Fairytale of New York" first, as Rosie and Ed are returning characters and you are able to see how they are doing. Fortunately, I liked the bit I saw of them in "I'll Take New York", that I am going to have to go back and read "Fairytale..."

I don't often take a quote or excerpt from a book, but something about this paragraph, which was written to Bea by her Grandmother Dot in a letter, just struck a chord for me and I wanted to share.
"For my first letter, I have enlisted the help of one of your Grandpa Georges chums. Do you remember he used to refer to famous poets like that? He considered them his friends "as all writers of words that touch our hearts should be considered"."



Book Jacket Summary:
Have you ever given up on love?
When her boyfriend lets her down for the last time, Brooklyn bookshop owner Bea James makes a decision – no more. No more men, no more heartbreak, and no more pain.
Psychiatrist Jake Steinmann is making a new start too, leaving his broken marriage behind in San Francisco. From now on there'll just be one love in his life: New York.
At a party where they seem to be the only two singletons, Bea and Jake meet, and decide there’s just one thing for it. They will make a pact: no more relationships.

But the city has other plans . . .

It Had to Be You by Lynda Renham

*** 3 stars
This book was suggested to me by Amazon and it had such wonderful reviews, I figured why not. It was funny but at times almost cringe worthy. I couldn't imagine being the main character Binki Grayson, anything that can go wrong does for her. I think one of my biggest complaints would be it took me a while to get into and I also didn't find Binki's best friend as supportive as one would suspect.

Book Jacket Summary:
When 29-year-old Binki Grayson is offered a Christmas bonus by her boss at the office party she didn't imagine he meant a quickie over his desk. Things for Binki just go from bad to worse and by Christmas Day she is not only jobless but boyfriend-less, so when she discovers her late Aunt Vera has left her something in her will she thinks things can only get better. What she doesn't realise is that her inheritance comes with a complication by the name of William Ellis.

The Christmas Surprise by Jenny Colgan

*****5 stars
Love Love Love this book! This is a follow up to Welcome to Rosie Hopkins Sweet Shop and Christmas at Rosie Hopkins Sweet Shop. Now, if you haven't read these, you MUST go and get them immediately, as you have missed out. I believe that Welcome to Rosie Hopkins Sweet Shop won the RNA-Romantic Novel of the Year 2013. The following books are stand alone sequels and are simply great! You will love the characters as well as the description of enchanted village life. I was so excited to see this release and it was all I had hoped for. MORE More more... ;)

Book Jacket Summary:
Rosie Hopkins, newly engaged, is looking forward to an exciting year in the little sweetshop she owns and runs. But when fate strikes Rosie and her boyfriend, Stephen, a terrible blow, threatening everything they hold dear, it's going to take all their strength and the support of their families and their Lipton friends to hold them together.
After all, don't they say it takes a village to raise a child?

Christmas at Tiffany's by Karen Swan

****4 stars
I won't lie, I saw the book jacket for this book and thought it looked like the perfect read to bring in the holidays. I am not usually a holiday book reader, meaning that I don't choose a book for the season. I usually chose by author, reviews or something that piques my interest. My mother passed this year. We were terribly close and it rocked my home, so as the holidays approached and the weight of the missing loved one came, I dug in to books to escape. I have a teenager and this seems to do the trick when I wanna pull my hair out with her as well. lol Anyway, now I know what I have missed. I adored this book and it was wonderful to see Cassie the leading character grow and find herself. I do have to mention that this is my first Karen Swan book, but won't be my last.

Book Jacket Summary:
Cassie settled down too young, marrying her first serious boyfriend. Now, ten years later, she is betrayed and broken. With her marriage in tatters and no career or home of her own, she needs to work out where she belongs in the world and who she really is.

So begins a year-long trial as Cassie leaves her sheltered life in rural Scotland to stay with each of her best friends in the most glamorous cities in the world: New York, Paris and London. Exchanging grouse moor and mousy hair for low-carb diets and high-end highlights, Cassie tries on each city for size as she attempts to track down the life she was supposed to have been leading, and with it, the man who was supposed to love her all along.

Christmas Gifts at the Beach Cafe by Lucy Diamond

**** 4 stars
Another short story follow up from The Beach Cafe and Christmas at Beach Cafe. Nice short read :) I wonder if there will be a full length book in the making with the characters as we keep getting glimpses?

Book Jacket Summary:
With her Cornish Beach Café closed for the winter, Evie Flynn should be looking forward to lazy days and a happy Christmas, with nothing more pressing to think about than when to have her next mince pie.

But her sister Ruth is coming to stay, in a cloud of heartbreak and bitterness following her marriage breakdown, along with her three unhappy children, and Evie knows she'll have her work cut out, trying to spread some festive cheer. Then her boyfriend Ed breaks the news that he's going to spend Christmas in London, for family reasons, and her heart sinks even further.

Add in to the mix a lost dog plus the hotly contested village Christmas bake-off and before long, Evie is feeling the strain. But there are still a few surprises in store for her, that look set to make this Beach Café Christmas the most memorable one yet...

Christmas at the Beach Cafe by Lucy Diamond

**** 4 stars
Cute follow up for The Beach Cafe, which had such a cute story and likable characters, I was happy to see them again.

Book Jacket Summary:
After a hectic summer running her beach café in Cornwall, Evie Flynn is looking forward to her first Christmas with new boyfriend Ed – she’s determined that it’s going to be the most perfectly romantic one ever. Cosy nights in front of the fire, spicy mulled wine, mince pies . . . what’s not to love?

But the peace is shattered when Ed’s ex suddenly gets in touch again, and then some unexpected guests arrive: Ed’s surly brother Jake and Evie’s heartbroken best friend Amber. Add in the stress of trying to finish her very own recipe book, snow blizzards and family dramas and Evie’s Christmas starts to look as if it’ll be a total turkey.

Will any of her festive wishes come true . . . or is this Christmas just a recipe for disaster?