Book-Mad-Mum

  Lottie is tired – tired with her family, tired of trying to make ends meet and tired in general. Mum to three child, she has to stretch the family budget as far as it will go but still things are difficult and the prospect of their house extension grows further and further away, Lottie starts reworking broken household items and selling them on. Husband Henry has been made redundant and can’t bear to break the news to Lottie just before Christmas. Instead, he pretends to go to work as usual while frantically job hunting. The race is on to find another job before Lottie finds out. What a lovely story this was, and I whizzed through it in just a few days as I really adored the writing style and the characters felt real and believable although there were times when I wanted to shout at Henry!! Since reading the book I have discovered it is the second book in a series, which was a complete surprise as it is a lovely stand alone, heart warming tale and I will definitely be addin...

  Connie McCabe is married to GP Devan and she works during the summer months as a guide, conducting tours across Europe. Connie’s marriage to Devan has gone a bit stale, and when he struggles with adapting to retirement, she seeks solace in her time away from home. On the shores of Lake Como she is swept off her feet by Jared, a younger man who is on a tour with his elderly godmother Dinah.   And so begins a long, hot, intoxicating summer where Connie succumbs to temptation - breaking her marriage vows. When she returns home to Devan, she tries to put the affair behind her, but everything starts to unravel, and Jared has other ideas.   This is a story of utter obsession! At the start I felt it moved along quite slowly, but it gather momentum and by the end I was left gasping as I was so surprised with how it finished! There were times when I wanted to shout at Connie as there were so many red flags that she didn’t see, but perhaps she was caught up in the mome...

  Laura Morrison's life is far from perfect. She is currently sleeping on a blow up bed in her sister’s house and her job as a journalist hangs in the balance as the magazine is being restructured. When Laura is given the assignment of trialling a new high tech dating service called Cupid she is a little apprehensive but she decides to give it a go. On paper her match Adam is perfect…or is he? I’ll be honest from the outset here – I’m not sure if this was the book for me. I was completely captured at the start and it seemed to gather speed but then about half way through it felt like I hit a reading brick wall and the momentum ground to a halt. I absolutely hated Laura’s sister, thought she had such a cold personality and didn’t seem suited to her husband who came across as a little dim, but lovely! Sadly this book didn’t hold my attention enough and felt long and drawn out (sorry!)

  Vanessa has always found it easy to pretend to be somebody different, somebody better. When things get tough in her real life, all she has to do is throw on some nicer clothes, adopt a new accent and she can escape. Her method of escape is to become a different character and go and view houses which are for sale – houses which she can’t afford. After all, we’ve all done it, gone for a nosy around a show home, it’s all harmless fun isn’t it? Well it is until Vanessa is seen running from a house viewing and the police find a dead body inside.   I loved this story to begin with, it was a real page turner and I quickly became involved in the story of Vanessa, the main character who is living under an umbrella of grief, having lost her mother tragically when she was a child. She was extremely vulnerable and when she got involved in a relationship with Connor I was rooting for her and really wanted things to work out. Then about 80% of the way through the book it all cha...

  Anna Wilson travels the world as a professional housesitter – stepping into other people’s lives - caring for their homes, pets and sometimes even neighbours. Living vicariously.   All Anna has ever really wanted is a home of her own – a proper one, filled with family and love and happy memories. If only she knew where to start.   Growing up in foster care, she always envied her friends their secure and carefree lives, their certainty and confidence. And, while those same friends may have become her family of choice, Anna is still stuck in that nomadic cycle, looking for answers, trying to find the courage to put down roots and find a place to call home.   I will be completely honest here – I originally started this book a few weeks ago and put it aside as I didn’t think it was for me. Then I read some of the reviews with people saying how great it was, and so I picked it up and started again, and am I glad I did!! This book tells the story of Anna, a woman...

  Tara Tremain has worked hard to leave the controlling grasp of her extremely affluent family far behind. Building a life in medicine as a junior doctor she meets Alex Carter and together they build an intense relationship. However Alex isn’t all that he seems. Fast forward ten years and Tara is now an Intensive Care Consultant and together with her friends and family she travels to Costa Rica where she is called upon to help a local boy who is desperately ill. His treatment will mean that Tara has to travel deep in the perilous jungle in order to help him, but then she discovers that she needs the help of the man who betrayed her and destroyed her life ten years ago. I loved this book, although Tara was a very wealthy young woman (I’m not!) I could still relate to her and I loved her friend Holly who kept her grounded although they were from completely different backgrounds. The book is set amongst the hustle and bustle of London, but also the more laid back, tranquil, white ...

  The day before Izzie’s 13 th birthday, her mother walks out on the family following an argument with their father, and so it falls to Izzy then take responsibility for her younger sister Linda.     But when a handsome Italian chef moves to Worthing and offers Izzie a job in his cafe, she is forced to choose between her responsibilities and her desires. Then her mother resurfaces, and Izzie discovers there’s more to her abandonment than meets the eye.     Will Izzie be able to come to terms with the past in order to pursue the future she deserves? This was a lovely story, and although I’ve never been to Worthing the places were described in such a way that I can imagine myself walking through the streets, along onto the sea front and sipping coffee in Giacomo’s café that Giacomo. With regards to the characters, Izzy seemed to take the weight of the world on her shoulders, whereas Linda was a wily little minx who needed someone to tell her a f...