Review -The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts

The Last Boyfriend

by

Nora Roberts

Piatkus (1 May 2012)

This is the second book in the Inn BoonsBoro series and it is every bit as good as the first book.


This story sees the development of the Inn with much more focus on the interior design and the excitement building towards the grand opening. As always there is the added mystery of the ghost in residence, and the delightful romance between Owen and Avery is explored with charm and warmth.


I guess reading a Nora Roberts novel is like curling up on the sofa with a cup of hot chocolate, it's deliciously warming and slightly indulgent, and absolutely the best thing on a cold and wet winter day.

There is a web site for the real Inn Boonsboro which is a fascinating addition to reading the books.

And reading the history of the place really makes the books come alive.

Wishlist Wednesday...

I am delighted to be part of wishlist Wednesday which is hosted by Dani at pen to paper

The idea is to post about one book each week that has been on your wishlist for some time, or maybe just added.

So what do you need to do to join in?

Follow Pen to Paper as host of the meme.

Pick a book from your wishlist that you are dying to get to put on your shelves.

Do a post telling your readers about the book and why it's on your wishlist.

Add your blog to the linky at the bottom of her post.

Put a link back to pen to paper (http://vogue-pentopaper.blogspot.com) somewhere in your post.

Due to be published by Headline in March 2013.

Book Blurb is from Goodreads...

The stunning new novel from Costa-Novel-Award-winning novelist Maggie O'Farrell is a portrait of an Irish family in crisis in the legendary heatwave of 1976.

It's July 1976. In London, it hasn't rained for months, gardens are filled with aphids, water comes from a standpipe, and Robert Riordan tells his wife Gretta that he's going round the corner to buy a newspaper. He doesn't come back.

The search for Robert brings Gretta's children - two estranged sisters and a brother on the brink of divorce - back home, each with different ideas as to where their father might have gone. None of them suspects that their mother might have an explanation that even now she cannot share.

I'm always excited when there is a new Maggie O'Farrell book on the horizon and this will be heading my wishlist for 2013.

Review - The Queen's Secret by Victoria Lamb

The Queen's Secret

by

Victoria Lamb

This Elizabethan historical mystery is set in 1585 when Queen Elizabeth I visits Kenilworth, home of her favourite, Robert Dudley. Robert is desperate to marry Elizabeth and hopes that by wooing her at Kenilworth she will finally consent to be his wife. However, Elizabeth is as capricious as she is beautiful and with flirtatious cynicism she is content to leave Robert waiting for her decision. However, waiting in the wings is one of Elizabeth’s beautiful ladies in waiting, Lettice Knollys, wife of the Duke of Essex, who is more than happy to accommodate Robert Dudley’s attentions. Elizabeth is incensed by the growing attraction between Robert and Lettice, and undertakes the services of Lucy Morgan, a young singer in her entourage, to spy on the couple. Combined with the ostentatious portrayal of life in the Elizabethan court,  is the story of Lucy Morgan, a young woman who is well used to the world of espionage.Gradually,she uncovers a plot that will have devastating consequences, not just on on Elizabeth’s court, but also on Lucy herself.

The story is well written with a compelling and intricate plot. The twists and turns are well explored and it soon becomes a fascinating dialogue between the main characters. The Elizabethan court is portrayed as a hotchpotch of scheming skulduggery, but it is the skilful inclusion of an intricate mystery at the heart of the novel which really makes for fascinating reading.

It is reassuring to note that The Queen’s Secret is the first book in a proposed series of stories about Lucy Morgan.

My thanks to Lynsey  at Transworld for a review copy of this book.

Review - Among Others by Jo Walton

Published 1 November 2012

Corsair

Among Others

by

Jo Walton

"It doesn't matter. I have books, new books, and I can bear anything as long as there are books." 

Mor Phelps is a complicated teenager, her belief in fairies and magic sets her apart from the other girls at the boarding school she is forced to attend. However, it is her love of books, and science fiction in particular, which offers her a respite from the segregation and bullying tactics. In the form of a series of journal entries, we are introduced to Mor’s world, and through some quite intricate narration, we are allowed a glimpse into the thoughts and dreams of this rather complex character.

Initially, I thought the book was difficult to get into, and had to re-read parts of the earlier narrative to see whether I had missed any clues into Mor’s background. However, I found that about a third of the way into the novel, the story really started to take off, and Mor becomes a undeniably articulate narrator. Her love of literature really is her saving grace and the book references which are scattered like pearls of wisdom throughout the story add an interesting dimension.

In Among Others, Jo Walton has created an entirely believable world where love, loss and madness, intermingle with a story about self-discovery and self-awareness. As a young teen, I read avidly the Mallory Towers books of Enid Blyton, I am sure that my thirteen year old self would have devoured Among Others with equal gusto.

As a book group read, I feel that this would be something of a marmite book; love it or loathe it; it would certainly divide opinion, but would most surely get people talking!

My Thanks to Newbooks for a review copy of this book.

Friday Recommended...

In the Kingdom of Men

 by 

Kim Barnes

Book Blurb from Goodreads

Raised in a two-room shack by her strict Oklahoma grandfather, Gin Mitchell knows a better life awaits her when she marries home town hero Mason McPhee. Even so, nothing can prepare her for what’s to come when Mason takes a job with the Arabian American Oil company in 1960s Saudi Arabia.





My Review

Taken from the city orphanage as a seven year old, and raised by her fanatical Methodist grandfather, Virginia “Gin” Mae Mitchell has a harsh and troubled early life. When in her mid teens she rebels against this severe upbringing, and determined to leave her grandfather, she uses marriage to Mason McPhee as her escape. When Mason accepts a job working for the Arabian American Oil company in Saudi Arabia, both he and Gin struggle to conform and adjust to a new way of life. As Mason begins life on the oil rigs, Gin is segregated in the women’s compound in Abqaiq, where she is given more than she ever thought possible. With a houseboy and gardener at her disposal, and amongst the discontented older wives, she learns to live the life of her dreams. But this is 1967, Saudi Arabia is a country on the edge of great change and company wives must learn to live within the strict boundaries of Shariah law. Whilst the oil company employees seem to live on the edge of paradise, civil unrest is never far away, and as Mason begins to suspect that all is not as it should be within the company, Gin also learns that freedom comes at a price.

With great skill the author conveys the stark beauty of a country which is as wild as it is beautiful. Wonderfully descriptive, the story is very easy to read, and very quickly becomes a real page turner, so much so, I stayed up long and late to finish it.

I am sure that book groups will love this one, there is much to discuss, not just about the politics of Saudi Arabia in the 1960s, but also the moral and ethical implications of plundering oil and the way in which the country treated its women. 

My thanks to Newbooks for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Guest Author - John Auckland

I am delighted to introduce

John Auckland

Author 

of

The Adventures of Nana Barb

Lost In Time

Book Blurb

THE ADVENTURES OF NANA BARB - BOOK ONE : LOST IN TIME.

 The Universe is dangerously close to collapsing. With a shady authority known as the Time Police on their tail, will the Timeseekers be able to save us all? Their only hopes rest with the prophesied 'chosen one' who - rather unexpectedly - turns out to be a kind old lady called Barbara. However, Nana Barb, as she is affectionately known by her seven grandkids, one great-granddaughter and the members of her local bridge club, becomes lost in time after the physicist who lives next-door accidentally activates her new invention. Unfortunately the only people who can save Nana Barb (and the entire Universe) are her hapless grandson Dave, his best and idiotic friend Simon and the beautiful yet clumsy physicist Louise. Guided by the omnipotent tentacles of the Fates, Nana Barb ventures through time desperate for a good cuppa, in the process meeting her long-dead parents, spawning a new religion and picking up a futuristic android companion.Will Dave and his new friends shake off the deadly Time Police? Will the Timeseekers stop the Universe from collapsing? And more importantly, will Nana Barb ever get a decent cup of tea?

Ecademy Press Ltd (4 Sep 2012)

My Review

When I first started to read Nana Barb I wasn't entirely sure that I would be drawn into the adventures of a time travelling granny, but do you know what, I really enjoyed the story – it’s very cleverly composed to be neither too fantastical nor too patronising to its audience, and even now on finishing the book, I’m still not altogether sure where it’s audience lies. I suppose I would liken it to an offshoot of The Hitch Hikers Guide, certainly there are elements of that great book lurking in the shadows, but really Nana Barb is a creation of her own. I don’t want to spoil the plot by relaying the story – so my only advise is – if you’re intrigued by a time slipping granny and a hapless bunch of intrepid sidekicks, then give this book a chance – I don’t think you’ll be disappointed, I wasn't.!

5*****

John has kindly taken the time to answer a few questions for jaffareadstoo

Welcome John,

What inspired you to become an author?

I have always felt I've got a lot to say - whether anyone wants to listen or not is a different matter! I suppose I didn't really consider the possibility of writing for a profession until my early twenties. I used to be in the events industry and I reached the peak of where I could get to, so I started looking for a new career. I used to write a lot of scripts for Murder Mystery events and I enjoyed thinking of different situations, characters and outcomes. I decided to go back to university to learn to write properly, and I've not looked back since.

Where did you get the inspiration for Nana Barb?

During one of my University seminars we learnt how to write comedy. We were asked to think of a quirky character and place them in an unusual situation. I knew a charming elderly lady who would always say highly inappropriate things that made people laugh. I thought it would be funny to make her travel through time, and so The Adventures of Nana Barb was born.

Do you write stories for yourself, or other people?

I think every writer writes for selfish reasons, to appeal to their inherent self-interest. However, Steven King is probably the most successful author in modernity quite simply because he predominantly writes for his audience. I've always felt you should pick the person who does something better than anyone else and copy them. So in short, I would like to write for myself, but I try very hard to write for my audience.

Which writers have inspired you?

The list is huge, but the biggest influencers would be Douglas Adams for inventing the genre of comedic sci-fi, J.G. Ballard for writing great stories that were thought-provoking, Michael Crichton for writing mainstream books around fantastical ideas and Bret Easton Ellis for writing with an edge.

Do you have a special place to do your writing?

Not really. I write anywhere and everywhere! I have very little time and an incredibly busy life, so wherever there is a hard surface to lay my laptop.

What are you writing next?

I'm writing the second instalment of The Adventures of Nana Barb, called Lost in Space, which will be out this time next year. I'm also working on my first literary piece, which is about a CEO of a pharmaceutical company who is developing a cure for ageing. It has a huge twist that I hope will wow readers. 

John , thanks so much for taking the time to appear as a our guest author today. Nana Barb is a great concept, Jaffa and I wish you continued success.

Review - Hands On Healing Remedies by Stephanie L. Tourles

Published by Storey Publishing
November 14 2012

This nicely illustrated book with 150 recipes for old fashioned remedies is a pleasure to read and is one of those books that will sit happily on your book shelf until you need to look for inspiration for a healing remedy. Most of the ingredients used are commonly found and nothing requires the reader to have a degree in biochemistry to understand.  I loved the idea of Sweet Annie Serenity Oil - how I need some of that in the run up to Christmas, and I can almost smell the aroma of Simple Lavender Infused Oil - what a lovely idea to use this year's lavender crop infused in sweet almond oil. Interspersed amongst the holistic remedies are snippets of stories and little bonus tips which all add together to make a really lovely book. Reading through it reminded me little of my grandmother who always had a jar of comfrey steeping in a jar which she would apply to cuts and bruises.

It just proves that sometimes the old remedies are equally as good as new and often chemically bound alternatives.