#Blogtour Just Haven't Met You Yet by Sophie Cousens

It's truly a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour Just Haven't Met You Yet by Sophie Cousens. 

'New York Times bestselling author Sophie Cousens is back with her second quirky, romantic tale of love, fate and why a simple mistake could be the secret to finding true love.'

About the Author

Sophie Cousens is a writer of romantic fiction based in Jersey, where Just Haven’t Met You Yet is set. Her previous novel published by Arrow, This Time Next Year, has reached huge success in the UK, having sold 150,000 copies across all formats in just six months. This Time Next Year has also achieved huge success in the US as a New York Times bestseller and Good Morning America Book Club pick.

Sophie previously worked in TV in London for over twelve years, producing The Graham Norton Show, Big Brother and Ant and Dec. Sophie has also previously published an eBook only romantic comedy novel How To Get Ahead In Television which was shortlisted for the 2015 Romantic Novelist Association Awards. She relocated from London to Jersey and balances her writing career with working for an arts charity, taking care of her two small children and enjoying small island life. Follow @SophieCous on Twitter or on Instagram

About the book

Tell me story of how you two met… Hopeless romantic Laura has spent her career as a journalist telling other people’s unbelievable love stories. But when it comes to her own love life, it seems she keeps looking for ‘the one’ in all the wrong places.

That is until she picks up the wrong suitcase at the airport by mistake and finds inside contents that just might belong to the man of her dreams. From romantic piano sheet-music to a battered copy of her favourite book, Laura knows this is the sign she’s been waiting for.

And if her job has taught her anything, it’s that when it comes to love, you can't let opportunity pass you by. And so Laura is determined to track down the mysterious suitcase owner and her own happy ending. But fate, as always, might just have other ideas...

Review

Laura is convinced there is a perfect connection with a potential soulmate just waiting to happen to her. When she picks up the wrong suitcase at the airport and all signs point to the perfect man, then she gets slightly obsessed with finding him. 

Whilst retracing the path of her parents love story, and more or less stalking a stranger she has never even seen before, she encounters some hard truths and eye-opening revelations about herself and others.

I must admit it made me laugh, a lot. Laura's energy, social awkwardness, bumbling mistakes, and quite frankly her naïve optimism - it all makes her a lovable character. You can't help but go along for the ride. It's as if she lives in this alternate universe where everything just falls into place eventually, no matter what kind of obstacle she encounters.

Cousens clearly has knack for storytelling and in equal measures for creating characters readers find relatable, and yet simultaneously they have an element of fantastical fictional characters. It's exactly the right combination for a feel good and often funny read.

I think this is going to be a popular read. It hits all the right spots. A bit of nostalgia, a budding romance, friendship, a dab of comedy, and the hunt for Mr Right - also known as the elusive Mr Wrong Suitcase.

Buy Just Haven't Met You Yet at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Arrow; pub date 11th November 2021 - Paperback Original £7.99. Buy at Amazon com. At Waterstones.

#Blogtour The Smuggler's Wife by Evie Grace

It's a pleasure to take part in the BlogTour The Smuggler's Wife by Evie Grace - published by Arrow 31st December.

About the Author

Evie Grace was born in Kent, and one of her earliest memories is of picking cherries with her grandfather who managed a fruit farm near Selling.

Holidays spent in the Kent countryside and the stories passed down through her family inspired her to write her Maids of Kent trilogy. Evie now lives in Devon with her partner and dog. She has a grown-up daughter and son. She loves researching the history of the nineteenth century and is very grateful for the invention of the washing machine, having discovered how the Victorians struggled to do their laundry.

Follow @eviegrace2017 on Twitter, on Amazon, on Goodreads, Buy The Smuggler's Wife

About the book

Her heart led her to him, but will loyalty be enough to make her stay...

When the beautiful but naïve Grace Lennicker falls for Isaiah Feasey, son of a rival smuggling family and owner of a local tavern, her sisters try to intervene. But as tensions grow, there is another suitor also hoping to win her hand in marriage, the dashing and more favourable Albert Enderby, a young lieutenant in the Revenue.

Grace is unwittingly drawn back into the world of smuggling that her sisters fought hard to leave behind, and as the violence erupts, she finds herself unable to stand by, knowing the rival gangs will kill anyone who stands in their way.

When her husband becomes involved, Grace is forced to make a difficult decision - turn him in and risk her life, or stay loyal and risk the lives of those she loves.

Review

This is the third book in the The Smuggler’s Daughters trilogy. All three books feature a different sister and can be read as standalone novels. Grace gives just enough of the other back-stories to get the gist of the relationships between the sisters and their story up to this point.

This time the focus is on the youngest Lennicker daughter Grace. She has set her sights on a man who is truly considered to be the enemy and aside from that he is a criminal and a rake. No wonder her sisters do everything to keep the two of them very far apart indeed, however the heart wants what heart wants or is that the body, then again it could just be the fact a bad boy always looks so much more charming than a good guy.

Little does she realise that she will eventually have to make a decision between her loved ones and the man she believes is the bees knees. Sounds like such a simple choice, well it would be if everyone wasn't knee deep in dangerous and ruthless situations the majority of the time.

What Grace does really well is present the other sisters as just that - sisters - and not, from a character perspective, from a pre-story or own story point of view. Which means Winnie is the stern somewhat snobbish woman concerned about neighbours and reputation, as opposed to the young woman having to deal with the scathing judgements due to her previous predicament. Similar applies to Louisa and perhaps more so to her husband, where previously rising in the social ranks and becoming part of the regime may have appeared exciting and romantic, in this book it takes on more of a serious tone.

The result is a premise that gives a certain vibe of historical romance, and yet simultaneously the author gives it a Cookson sign of times feel. Instead of a glossing over of problems of the time, although there is a certain element of humour, there is more of reality vs romantic imagery when it comes to the plot. Grace delivers an escapist read combined with a more serious tone.

Buy The Smuggler's Wife (The Smuggler’s Daughters #3) at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Arrow: pub date 31st December 2020. Paperback Original - £6.99. Buy at Amazon com. Hive. Bookshop org.

#BlogTour The Silent Treatment by Abbie Greaves

It's Publication Day today and my turn on the BlogTour The Silent Treatment by Abbie Greaves.

About the Author
Abbie Greaves studied at Cambridge University before working in a literary agency for a number of years.

She was inspired to write her first novel, The Silent Treatment, after reading a newspaper article about a boy in Japan who had never seen his parents speak to one another before. It will be published in April 2020.

Abbie lives in Edinburgh with her boyfriend and is hard at work on her follow-up novel, The Ends of the Earth.

Follow @AbbieGreaves1 on Twitter, on Goodreads, Visit abbiegreaves.com, Buy The Silent Treatment

About the book
A lifetime of love. Six months of silence. One last chance.

Frank hasn't spoken to his wife Maggie for six months. For weeks they have lived under the same roof, slept in the same bed and eaten at the same table – all without words.

Maggie has plenty of ideas as to why her husband has gone quiet, but it will take another heartbreaking turn of events before Frank finally starts to unravel the secrets that have silenced him.

Is this where their story ends? Or is it where it begins?

With characters that will capture your heart, THE SILENT TREATMENT celebrates the phenomenal power of love and the importance of leaving nothing unsaid

Review
The story begins with a tragic decision and the realisation that it might be too late to say the things that need to be said. The things Maggie and Frank should have said, but were swallowed in their months of silent treatment, and didn't.

I can't decide whether the silence or the dismantling of the marriage and relationship was more fascinating. The silence between the two of them could have ultimately lead to the choice Maggie made. Much like isolation experiments with monkeys have shown, humans can crumble under the pressure of isolation techniques such as not having any verbal interaction with the only other person who lives in your home - the person who loves you the most.

It seems as if the crumbling is due to a lack of communication and hiding important moments in their lives from each other, which creates an atmosphere of tension and a lack of trust. The reason why they do it is irrelevant because it becomes cause and effect. Or is it irrelevant? Does the reason or person at the core of the secrets automatically solidify the love the two have for each other because they are the same.

It's a contemporary read for all ages - a marriage stripped down to the bones. Heartache, lies, fear and grief are ground into the essence of this story to create a fascinating tale of loyalty, companionship and love.

This is a story with incredible depth. I think what I enjoyed about it the most was the simplicity of it and the basic structure. Proof that to write a captivating story you don't need more than two characters and a great storyline. This would make a great play by the way. Very - Barefoot in the Park. Hopefully this is the first of many.

Buy The Silent Treatment at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Cornerstone Digital; pub date 2 April 2020. Buy at Amazon com.

My Name is Anna by Lizzy Barber

Every one of us has probably experienced déjà vu at one time or the other, the feeling of having seen, heard or experienced something before. When Anna defies her mother and spends the day at a popular theme park she isn't sure whether she is having a flashback or a feeling of déjà vu.

Just one problem with that, there is no way she could be having a flashback, because according to her very strict and religious mother, Anna has never been anywhere near the theme park. Anna starts to question whether what she knows is the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Meanwhile a young girl called Rosie decides to look into the disappearance of her sister. The loss, grief and confusion has left her family broken. She believes that solving the mystery could be what finally brings her family back together. The not knowing, the unanswered questions and the imagined scenarios make a unexplained disappearance worse than a disappearance with a bad ending.

I really appreciated the realistic and honest approach to the ending of this book. Barber didn't feel the need to romanticise it for her readers, and to be completely frank it's exactly what it would be like for families in such a traumatic situation. So kudos to the author for that.

This may appear to be a simple premise but Barber takes it a step further and puts readers in a situation where the worst possible crime a family can deal with could be completely understandable given the traumatic and extraordinary circumstances. The predictable takes a sharp left turn and leads the reader on a merry chase up the garden path.

Buy My Name is Anna at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.
Publisher: Cornerstone Digital (1 Nov. 2018) - ebook
Publisher: Arrow (25 July 2019) - Paperback
Follow @ByLizzyBarber @arrowpublishing
Visit lizzybarber.com