Month: Mar 2019

Posted in 5*, Adult Fiction

Happy Monday, let’s start the week with a 5* review – The Lion Tamer Who Lost by Louise Beech #theliontamerwholost #lovethesmellofabook @louisewriter

Posted on by LovetheSmellofaBook

Wow what a book, this is the rare gem of a book that you pick up and become some immersed in that time passes you by and you genuinely feel bereft when you reach the end of the story as you felt the characters had become your friends during the journey.

That is exactly how I felt reaching the end of this wonderful poignant story. This book is a beautiful story of love and loss that takes you on a journey with Ben to the Lion reserve in Africa hoping to find answers to many unanswered questions. Ben and Andrew are everything to eachother and sometimes the people you love the most are the ones you end up hurting the most for all the right reasons.

Once I had picked this book up, I struggled to put it down as I was so keen to see how Ben’s journey would play out and whether on his return be able to salvage a relationship with Andrew.

A superb read that holds a little something for everyone, it takes you on a beautiful and emotional journey that will leave you feeling sad and a little lost when you reach the end.

 

Book Blurb

Be careful what you wish for…
Long ago, Andrew made a childhood wish, and kept it in a silver box. When it finally comes true, he wishes he hadn’t…

Long ago, Ben made a promise and he had a dream: to travel to Africa to volunteer at a lion reserve. When he finally makes it, it isn’t for the reasons he imagined…

Ben and Andrew keep meeting in unexpected places, and the intense relationship that develops seems to be guided by fate. Or is it? What if the very thing that draws them together is tainted by past secrets that threaten everything?

A dark, consuming drama that shifts from Zimbabwe to England, and then back into the past, The Lion Tamer Who Lost is also a devastatingly beautiful love story, with a tragic heart…

 

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Available to purchase on Amazon

 

About the Author

Louise’s short stories have won the Glass Woman Prize, the Eric Hoffer Award for Prose, and the Aesthetica Creative Works competition, as well as shortlisting twice for the Bridport Prize and being published in a variety of UK magazines. Her first play, Afloat, was performed at Hull Truck Theatre in 2012. She also wrote a ten-year newspaper column for the Hull Daily Mail.

Her debut novel, How to be Brave, was a Guardian Readers’ pick in 2015. The Sunday Mirror called Maria in the Moon quirky, darkly comic, original and heartfelt, and The Lion Tamer Who Lost was described as ‘engrossing and captivating’ by the Daily Express.

Link to her website – http://louisebeech.co.uk/

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Posted in Adult Fiction, Blog Tour, Contemporary Fiction

Today I am excited to be joining in the publication day celebrations for The Pieces of You and Me by Rachel Burton #blogtour #cherrypop @rararesources @bookish_yogi

Posted on by LovetheSmellofaBook

The Pieces of Me and You

When asked to take part in this blog tour I was really excited as I haven’t read a book by Rachel Burton before and I love to read new authors and the blurb really jumped out at me.  Thank you to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to take part and share my review on The Pieces of You and Me.

My Thoughts on The Pieces of You and Me

I found myself quickly caught in the bubble of Jess’ life when I picked up this book and felt a connection to her character based around some of her experiences being so similar to my own. Once I had started I was keen to keep reading and find out who Rupert was and just what connection he had with Jess and whether this was a connection that could be revived.

An uplifting story from start to finish about the highs and lows of life and how it can throw you curve balls you don’t anticipate and how you learn to deal with them. I loved Rupert & Jess they were brilliant characters and I felt like I was cheering them on from the sidelines throughout, hoping they would be able to reconnect and find their happily ever after.

 

Book Blurb

They say time can heal all wounds…

When Jess and Rupert parted ways, it was the end of a great love story that might have been. Now ten years later, the very different paths they have taken in life will bring them back together for a chance meeting.

But with so much left unsaid about the break up neither ever recovered from and with each keeping their own devastating secrets, will they finally be able to make the fractured pieces of their love for one another whole again?

The Pieces of You and Me

Available to purchase here

 

About the Author

Rachel Burton is the author of the international ebook bestseller The Many Colours of Us. 

Rachel spent most of her life between Cambridge and London but now lives in Yorkshire with her fiance and their three cats. The main loves of her life are The Beatles and very tall romantic heroes.

Find her on social media Twitter, Instagram , Facebook or follow her blog.She is always happy to talk books, writing, music, cats and how the weather in Yorkshire is rubbish. She is mostly dreaming of her next holiday….

 

 

Posted in Adult Fiction

Today I am sharing my review for the brilliant Time Will Tell by Eva Jordan

Posted on by LovetheSmellofaBook

I jumped at the chance to read Time Will Tell by Eva Jordan the third and final instalment for the TBC reviewer group when I had the opportunity as I have loved the previous books in this series.

In this story the family are still reeling from the loss of a pivotal family member the previous Christmas and the events that had taken place in the lead up. I found this a cleverly crafted book that reminded me of key moments from the previous books whilst telling a new and different story by looping back to the 1960’s and Lizzie’s early childhood. As the book picks up pace events that have taken place in the 1960’s start to bear relevance in present day and buried secrets start to come to light.

I loved this book and couldn’t put it down for the final 40%, I was absolutely hooked by the way it built the story up and pulled the past and present together.

A truly superb book with some emotional and poignant moments throughout. It was lovely to learn more about Lizzie’s beloved Dad and her childhood and felt this book pulled the trilogy to a close perfectly.

Book Blurb

Writer, Lizzie Lemalf, and her loving but somewhat dysfunctional family are still grieving over the loss of a much-loved family member. Lizzie is doing her best to keep her family together but why does the recent death of a well-known celebrity have them all in a spin? The police suspect foul play; Lizzie and other family members suspect one another. Lizzie begins searching for answers only to find herself being dragged back to the past, to 1960’s London to be exact, and to the former life of her father, that up until now she has never been privy to. Every family has its secrets but how can the past hold the key to a present day celebrity death? They say the past comes back to haunt you. Surely the truth will out? Maybe, but only time will tell…

 

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Available to purchase on Amazon

About the Author

Eva Jordan was born in Kent but has lived most of her life in a small Cambridgeshire town. She describes herself as a lover of words, books, travel and chocolate, and is also partial to the odd glass or two of wine. Eva is both a mum and step mum to four adult children, all of whom have, at times, inspired her writing and her family based novels. Her career has been varied including working for the library service and at a women’s refuge. A member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Eva also writes a monthly column for a local magazine and says storytelling through the art of writing is her passion. 183 Times A Year is Eva’s debut novel, followed by All The Colours In Between, and Time Will Tell.

Posted in 5*, Debut Book, Memoir / True Story

Hard Pushed: A Midwife’s Story by Leah Hazard #hardpushed #leahhazard #midwife #NHS @hazard_leah

Posted on by LovetheSmellofaBook

OMG what a superb and memorable book, I requested this on Netgalley as I loved This Is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay and after reading Hard Pushed it leaves you in no doubt just how hard the Midwife’s in hospitals work and the pressure that sits firmly on their shoulders when bringing new lives into the world.

I loved the honesty and compassion in this book, being a Midwife is a massively important role and those of us who have had children will know the true magnitude they play when you are in labour and how they work tirelessly to ensure the safe arrival of your baby with as little intervention and dramatics as possible.

I loved this book and will be recommending it to everyone as it left me in absolute awe of the brilliant work Midwife’s do and how Leah even when pushed to her upmost limits is still 100% dedicated to providing the best care and experience she possibly can for all mothers.

Thank you so much for sharing your story with us Leah and for continuing to help bring new lives into the world.

Book Blurb

No sleep for twenty hours. No food for ten. And a ward full of soon-to-be mothers… Welcome to the life of a midwife. 

Life on the NHS front line, working within a system at breaking point, is more extreme than you could ever imagine. From the bloody to the beautiful, from moments of utter vulnerability to remarkable displays of strength, from camaraderie to raw desperation, from heart-wrenching grief to the pure, perfect joy of a new-born baby, midwife Leah Hazard has seen it all.

Through her eyes, we meet Eleanor, whose wife is a walking miracle of modern medicine, their baby a feat of reproductive science; Crystal, pregnant at just fifteen, the precarious, flickering life within her threatening to come far too soon; Star, birthing in a room heady with essential oils and love until an enemy intrudes and Pei Hsuan, who has carried her tale of exploitation and endurance thousands of miles to somehow find herself at the open door of Leah’s ward.

 

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Available to pre order on Amazon

 

About the Author

Leah Hazard is a serving NHS midwife in Scotland. Having studied at Harvard, she left a career in television to pursue her lifelong interest in women’s health after the birth of her first daughter in 2003. She soon began working as a doula, supporting women in pregnancy and attending numerous births in homes and hospitals across the country. The birth of Leah’s second daughter in 2006 prompted Leah to make the leap into midwifery. Since qualifying, she has worked in a variety of clinical areas within the NHS maternity services, including antenatal clinics, triage units and labour wards.

Posted in Blogs, Younger Readers Age 9-12

Easy guide to illustration apps for kids

Posted on by LovetheSmellofaBook

Some brilliant tips here and really interesting if you have a budding young artist, I’ll definitely be sharing this with Daisy as she loves to sketch

Thanks to @lexi_rees and Charlotte for sharing today!

Lexi Rees, author

Sometimes you meet people whose talent just blows your mind! So today I have the very great pleasure of introducing Charlotte who is going to share her illustration app tips. She’s already planning a career in art and I see a bright future for her.

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She entered my illustration competition, and not only were her drawings amazing, but she was the only computer based entry which really caught my attention. I asked her, via her Dad, if she would mind sharing her knowledge on computer based illustration to help other youngsters try it out. I’m delighted too share this blog from her, and being a super cool tech-savvy kid, she’s made us a YouTube video too!

So over to Charlotte …

Hi, I’m Charlotte and I am 11 years old. I love to draw; it’s one of the things that I like to do most in my free time and…

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Posted in Adult Fiction, Chick Lit

Wedding Bells at Villa Limoncello by Daisy James

Posted on by LovetheSmellofaBook

I love Daisy James and jumped at the chance to read her latest release as her books have such a heartwarming nature to them and never fail to cheer me up.

As soon as Izzie was set up with the trip to Italy to help plan the wedding shoot, I just knew I was going to love it. This book was set in the beautiful run down Limoncello Villa amongst the stunning backdrop of Tuscany and the time planning the wedding provides the opportunity for Izzie to deal with some feelings that she has continued to keep buried.

A wonderful light hearted read full of Italian charm and lovely locals who are on a mission to ensure that everything goes to plan with the wedding. A highly recommended light read, perfect for a sunny day that will make you laugh and want to keep turning the pages.

 

Book Blurb

Escape to Villa Limoncello… where dreams come true in unexpected ways. Perfect for fans of Sarah Morgan, Jenny Oliver and Kat French

When Isabella Jenkins is unceremoniously fired from her fancy London job, she escapes to Tuscany. A few weeks hiding amongst rolling hills and grape vines at Villa Limoncello sounds exactly like the distraction she needs.

But Italy holds emotional memories for Izzie and with a hapless handyman, a matchmaking village matriarch and a gorgeous – if infuriating – local chef named Luca Castelotti, her quiet Italian get away turns into an unending cacophony of chaos.

Suddenly Izzie finds herself on a mission to pull off the wedding of the century and maybe get her life in order in the process. If only Luca’s gorgeous smile wasn’t such a powerful distraction…

 

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Available to pre order on Amazon

 

About the Author

Daisy James is a Yorkshire girl transplanted to the north east of England. She loves writing stories with strong heroines and swift-flowing plotlines. When not scribbling away in her peppermint-and-green summerhouse (garden shed), she spends her time sifting flour and sprinkling sugar and edible glitter. She loves gossiping with friends over a glass of something pink and fizzy or indulging in a spot of afternoon tea – china plates and teacups are a must.

Daisy would love to hear from readers via her Facebook page or you can follow her on Twitter @daisyjamesbooks or on Instagram @booksdaisyjames.