I have to start by saying how much I love Jill Mansell's books and I wait in earnest for her yearly book release. This year, I was lucky enough to get a preview copy of the book via Netgalley so I didn't have to wait quite so long.
This year the main character in the book is Hallie, who has cystic fibrosis and who also runs her own website called threethingsaboutyou.com where her readers write in with their problems and Hallie does her best to give them advice.
However, as always, there are a multitude of characters in the book who all get linked up eventually and the thing that keeps the reader reading is finding out the link between them, as well as finding out if they all live happily ever after.
So there's also Tash and the story of how she meets and falls in love with the man of her dreams, and there is Flo, who also does the same thing.
As usual, Jill really builds up her characters from the beginning so the reader can really empathise with them and enjoy the ups and downs of their journey along the way.
The thing I love so much about Jill Mansell's books is that they are very realistic. They are about ordinary people with ordinary lives and then something special happens to them which makes their life complete, and that is very heartwarming. However, I must warn you now that there were some very sad bits in the book as well, which came all at once and nearly made me want to stop reading it. I was enjoying the heartwarming stories and then all of a sudden, things changed.
But that is quite true of life itself and there was quite a strong message in this book - that life is too short and that you need to grab every opportunity that you can and don't waste the short lives that we all have.
And so, once again, Jill Mansell has pulled it out of the bag, and now I have to wait for another year for her next novel. I get so engrossed in her books that I read them far too quickly and then get a bit sad when they are over! But I urge you to go and read this and take from it what you will.
Wednesday, 31 December 2014
Thursday, 4 December 2014
One Funeral, by Kate and Stone Bastion
This book follows the previous novel by the same authors, No Weddings and it picks up directly where the last one left off, however from a different point of view,
In the last novel, Cade met Hannah and fell for her, however she resisted his charms. Cade, who could never resist a challenge, made it his mission to get to know her better. In doing so, he discovered that like him, she was also scarred by previous relationships.
If you'd read my last review, I was most disappointed by the last book as it was billed as being a romantic novel - erotic fiction infact, told from the man's point of view. However, all they got as far as was kissing - right on the last page!
So I thought I would give this second novel a go to see if the heat had picked up. And I'm afraid to say that I got only a fraction of the way through before getting bored and giving up - sorry!!
It picks up with that kiss, however it is from Hannah's point of view now, which is a good idea as the reader now can hear how she feels about Cade and their situation. Despite this, I felt that it was repeating a lot of information I had previously read in the first book and didn't really need to read again.
Her and Cade agreed to go on a date to see how things would go, but Hannah couldn't get out of her head and decided, as a way to get over things and help move her relationship with Cade forward, she agreed to go to counselling.
It was at this point that I felt this wasn't going to work for me. Hannah went to her counsellor and the reader has to go through these sessions with her, working out her thoughts for the boy and why she is so messed up. Having recently been through a similar situation, I was in no mood to read about Hannahs troubled life.
So I gave up on the book. It just wasn't promising to be the romantic novel that I thought it was and judging by the title, it sounds like it probably is a bit depressing.
If you liked the first one then definitely give this one a go but just be prepared for what you are letting yourself in for!
In the last novel, Cade met Hannah and fell for her, however she resisted his charms. Cade, who could never resist a challenge, made it his mission to get to know her better. In doing so, he discovered that like him, she was also scarred by previous relationships.
If you'd read my last review, I was most disappointed by the last book as it was billed as being a romantic novel - erotic fiction infact, told from the man's point of view. However, all they got as far as was kissing - right on the last page!
So I thought I would give this second novel a go to see if the heat had picked up. And I'm afraid to say that I got only a fraction of the way through before getting bored and giving up - sorry!!
It picks up with that kiss, however it is from Hannah's point of view now, which is a good idea as the reader now can hear how she feels about Cade and their situation. Despite this, I felt that it was repeating a lot of information I had previously read in the first book and didn't really need to read again.
Her and Cade agreed to go on a date to see how things would go, but Hannah couldn't get out of her head and decided, as a way to get over things and help move her relationship with Cade forward, she agreed to go to counselling.
It was at this point that I felt this wasn't going to work for me. Hannah went to her counsellor and the reader has to go through these sessions with her, working out her thoughts for the boy and why she is so messed up. Having recently been through a similar situation, I was in no mood to read about Hannahs troubled life.
So I gave up on the book. It just wasn't promising to be the romantic novel that I thought it was and judging by the title, it sounds like it probably is a bit depressing.
If you liked the first one then definitely give this one a go but just be prepared for what you are letting yourself in for!
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