Book-Mad-Mum

California Summer by Anita Hughes My rating: 4 of 5 stars Rosie and Ben have been together for a decade, a young couple intent on hitting Hollywood and wowing the glitterati with their film making skills - he's a director and she's a producer. When Ben hits the big time, Rosie discovers that her lover, friend and colleague has been unfaithful to her, and the bottom falls out of her world. She decides to leave the glitz and glamour of the Hollywood Hills, and goes to stay with her friends parent's in their sprawling mansion in Montecito. In the little town, Rosie soon blends in and makes new friends with Rachel who owns the chocolate shop, Morris the butler, and Josh the surfer. Taking to the kitchen to cook her anxieties away, Rosie discovers it’s a place she feels happy and relaxed in, and when everyone raves over her fish tacos, the idea of opening her own shop grows from a seed of an idea to an actual thing! This is a novel about frien...

The Man Who Didn't Call by Rosie Walsh My rating: 5 of 5 stars Sarah bumps into Eddie whilst out walking one day, and they go to the pub for a drink, which then turns into six glorious days together before Sarah has to return to her home in LA and Eddie has to go on holiday to Spain. They have fallen in love, and neither of them have been so certain of anything else in their lives. Eddie promises to call from the airport, but he doesn’t call, and all contact ends. Sarah’s friends told her to forget him and move on but she just can as she knows something must be wrong. Then Sarah discovers why Eddie didn’t call. This is an amazing book. All the way through it I thought I’d sussed out several different scenarios, and I was wrong about every single one!! It had more twists and turns than a roller coaster at Thorpe Park, but I still encountered a knot in my stomach, and on several occasions, I read pages and pages whilst holding my breath. Rush out a...

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan My rating: 1 of 5 stars What complete and utter drivel this book was! Believe me, I really tried to like it, but if I'm honest, the only bit I liked were the six pages at the end. We meet the two main characters of the book, Florence and Edward in their honeymoon suite at a hotel on Chesil Beach in Dorset. It is 1962, and the world is still innocent when it comes to sex. The book then centres on the next two hours of their lives. ...And that's it! Ian McEwan managed to eek two hours out into a 166 page novel with the last six pages crammed with the next two decades! In fact, I felt the last six pages should have been the start of the novel. I was really looking forward to this book, as I was keen to go and see the film, but having read the book, I certainly won't waste any more time going to see the movie. If you haven't got a paint patch to watch dry, then certainly pick up this book, but watching the pa...

The Single Mums' Mansion: For all fans of Motherland, Allison Pearson and Hurrah for Gin by Janet Hoggarth My rating: 4 of 5 stars Amanda and her husband Sam live with their three children under five in a large Victorian house in London which is in need to love and attention, but it would seem that the house is not the only thing in need of a bit of TLC, when Sam declares he’s “lost the love” and walks out. A few months later, while Amanda is nursing her broken heart, her heavily pregnant friend Abi crashes into the kitchen saying that her husband is about to do the same. Once the baby is born, and with no where to live, Ali moves into Amanda’s attic with baby Grace. When long lost friend Jacqui appears back on the scene, also a single mum, she pops in daily for updates and chats and now the house is complete. I had never read a book by Janet Hoggarth before, and I was hooked initially, relating to the story as I too was once a single mum, so I f...

What Holly's Husband Did by Debbie Viggiano My rating: 4 of 5 stars What hasn’t Holly’s husband done?! All is revealed at the end, but you’ll have an enjoyable time getting there, and when you do, you’ll gasp! Holly has been married to dentist Alex for 15 years and they have one teenage daughter Sophie. Last Christmas when Alex popped out to get some milk for the custard, Holly discovered some suggestive texts on Alex’s phone. Every bone in her body was chilled when she read them, and when she confronted him, he explained that it was a patient who was sending the texts, and he was keeping them on his phone in case things escalated. But Holly couldn’t move on and kept looking for signs that her husband was having an affair. Deciding to take her mind off things, she throws herself head first into planning a surprise 40th birthday party for Alex at the local golf club. That in turn presents more problems. With the help of her best friends Jeanie and...

One Way or Another: An absolutely hilarious laugh out loud romantic comedy by Colleen Coleman My rating: 2 of 5 stars Katie Kelly is the main character of this book, and we meet up with her when life has gone wrong. She’s split up from her boyfriend Ben, her restaurant which was her pride and joy has gone bust, and now to make ends meet she’s working in a kitchen at an old people’s home, while sofa surfing on her friend’s couch. One of the residents Martha, suggests that Katie applies to work for one of the best chefs in the country, and so she starts to go through the application process when she discovers a fellow contestant, is her ex Ben, but there can only be one winner. I am going to start by apologising, as I know that books are difficult things to write, and an author will pour their heart and soul into it and lay themselves bare for everyone to either love or hate you, (preferably love you!) but I didn’t like this book at all. To begin with,...

Forever at Conwenna Cove by Darcie Boleyn My rating: 4 of 5 stars In this book, we return to Conwenna Cove, my favourite fictional holiday resort! This time we are introduced to Zoe with a secret past that she is coming to terms with but who has found sanctuary in the little village. As the owner of the local diner, and a lover of greyhounds, the story starts with Zoe grieving for the loss of her rescue dog, Raven. Local surfer Nate wants to experience life before it’s too late. He wants to surf the waves in Oz and see the world. With a reputation as a lady’s man, when he teams up with Zoe to organise a fun raising event for the local greyhound sanctuary, she keeps him at arm’s length, but destiny has other ideas. I am a massive fan of this series of books, because each one feels like a holiday. The descriptions in the book are fantastic, and really lift off the page, this isn’t a travelogue, it’s a story told from the heart. As for the characters yo...