Category Archives: Frothy with Substance

A little more substantial but still lots of fun

Lucky Charm- Marie Astor

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Annabel Green is concerned for her cousin and her cheating husband- little did she imagine that her fiancé Jeremy was up to the same tricks after freeloading off her for years. Luckily the advertising job she’d taken after college to support Jeremy’s writing ambitions (instead of pursuing her own) provided some challenges to take her mind off her devastation as she cancelled wedding plans. When her best friend Lilly takes her to a fortune teller, Annabel is sceptical of the optimistic love predictions and the lucky charm necklace given to her by the mystery lady. Fortunately she takes a chance shortly afterwards when fashion designer Lilly offers her the opportunity of three weeks in Paris, and the charm begins to take effect.

Kooks for your Kindle?– A nice variety of characters here, the selfish fiancé Jeremy is a piece of work. Meredith is Annabel’s deluded older cousin, who refuses to face her husband’s infidelity. Her anger at Annabel was very well done when Annabel kicked Jeremy out. Lilly is exceptional, more of a free spirit, especially when it comes to men where she loves ’em and leaves ’em- until she’s finally tempted to keep one.

The Bella-Swan-Pathetically-Self-Sacrificing-Factor– Annabel is a likable, strong, decisive character. I’ve always thought that just because frothy books are fun doesn’t mean the heroine has to be a complete disaster. I loved the way she immediately threw out Jeremy, despite all their shared history, and finally realised how she’d been used for so long.

Painting a picture for your paperback?– Although Annabel is a Jersey girl, the book’s mostly set in Manhattan, where it’s easy to casually meet friends for a post-work drink without having to worry about driving home (yep, jealous). Towards the end we have something of a guided tour of Paris, romantically done.

Evaluation of your eBook?– I only had a minor quibble- Annabel, although only twenty-eight, came across as a lot more mature, in speech and actions. But it didn’t adversely impact the story, which was wide open and unpredictable for a large part of it. It’s unusually refreshing to be at least halfway through a chick-lit book and not know who the leading lady will end up with! The lucky charm aspect didn’t start until about half way through, but I didn’t notice as the story was engrossing. Ultimately it’s about picking yourself up when it all goes south, and ending up much better off.

Frothy Ranking: 4/5.

Can be obtained from:

UK: On Amazon for only £1.92

US: On Amazon for $2.99.

Me And My Sisters – Sinéad Moriarty

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The three Devlin sisters have all gone in very different directions as they approach middle age, and are no longer close. Set in Dublin, this novel has all the warmth and humour you’d expect from an Irish chicklit even though all three characters are seeing their lives come apart at the seams. Julie used to be a relaxed, voracious reader. Now as she’s heading for forty, she’s struggling with four sons under the age of five, three of whom are manic triplets, and a devoted husband who’s distracted by work worries.

Louise is the brains of the family, her hard work and sensible decisions have made her a partner in a law firm, and financially stable. However one drunken mistake leaves her way out of her depth and jeopardises all she’s worked for. Sophie has everything she could possibly want, but she earned it another way: she converted a successful modeling career into becoming a trophy wife. Of course no one knows how hard she’s worked to maintain the position, or how her life will change when her husband makes a catastrophic mistake. It’s only when their lives fall apart that the sisters begin to understand each other as adults.

Kooks for your Kindle?– One of the things I appreciated about this book was the language- even though Julie’s neighbour Marian, who “curses like a drunken sailor” and may have overdone the f-bombs in front of the kids, it was real. None of the characters were two dimensional, even the ladies’ parents had their depths, especially the father, dealing with a neurotic wife, three daughters in trouble and aimless younger son. Julie’s triplets were truly terrifying, and still a little lovable. But mostly terrifying.

The Bella-Swan-Pathetically-Self-Sacrificing-Factor– Sophie and Louise both minimised the self pity and made the best of their situations, but Julie, who suspects her husband of an affair, refuses to deal with the situation at first. But the author has a way of presenting each of the sisters in a way that we understand them all, while seeing how they don’t understand each other. All three of them take a long while to realise they can share their problems.

Evaluation of your eBook?– It’s a surprisingly long book and the format of each of the three taking turns to tell the story keeps it moving at a good speed. The subject matter is nothing new so you might see where it’s going, but there’s a nice twist at the end, and the combination of the three very different sisters works well. The tale gives good examples of how family can drive you nuts, but also save you. I imagine readers with sisters or with crazy kids will identify with this book, and even if you have neither it’s still a great read with plenty of warmth, honesty, drama and compassion. This is my first by this author, but won’t be the last!

Frothy Ranking: 4/5.

Can be obtained from:

UK: Amazon for £3.99, although recently it was on a one day special for 99p- keep an eye out for offers.

US: Not on kindle, but paperbacks can be found here on Amazon. Kobobooks have the ebook for $8.99.
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When I fall In Love – Miranda Dickinson

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Elsie is in her mid-twenties and helps run a retro ice-cream parlour in the the English seaside town of Brighton. She’s clearly recovering from a personal tragedy and finding her way. When she takes a chance and belts out a song at a beach-side cafe piano, former 80s rocker Woody Jensen witnesses people’s reactions and convinces her to help him form a choir, singing modern songs and glee-style mash-ups. Meantime Elsie’s hippy father has set her up with a nice new guy, Olly, but continued chance encounters with a more mysterious man called Torin are unsettling her. When the choir grows and members start to gel together, lives are changed.

Kooks for your Kindle?– Plenty to love here, a well rounded selection of real life people. Cher, who owns Sundae and Cher, the ice-cream parlour, is an ample-bosomed divorcée whose charms bring many a middle aged man to the premises. Woody is a dinosaur of rock, lots of musical vision and charm but not terribly grounded in the real world and still causing mayhem. It was nice the way he understood Elsie though. Elsie’s two kindly older sisters have quite a bit going on here too, but are supportive of their hurt little sister while having their own dramas. The choir members are a varied bunch, and initially quite disparate; fortunately Elsie has a gift for handling people.

The Bella-Swan-Pathetically-Self-Sacrificing-Factor– It’s difficult to discuss Elsie’s character without mentioning what’s obviously happened to her, but that’s not explicitly revealed until the fifth chapter. The pot full of notes encouraging Elsie to move on with her life were a bit of a giveaway though! She’s a tough cookie and pleasantly decisive. She does have a tendency to be rescued by Torin, but only because he has an almost preternatural ability to show up at the exact time and place, Elsie’s not the annoyingly helpless type.

Painting a picture for your paperback?– Brighton is almost a character in the book, the summery lifestyle, the famous pier, the quirky shopping, and the many cafés and pubs are a big part of the story. It’s just the kind of place in which you can imagine a kitsch, retro ice-cream parlour in the style of an American diner, and the flavours described are mostly mouth watering. With the obvious exception of… tomato, basil and olive anyone?

Evaluation of your eBook?– It’s a charming, satisfying tale of recovery and community. By the simple formation of the choir, everyone in Elsie’s life has their own changed for the better. I found Elsie’s love interests unusual; Olly a little too nice, and Torin almost crossed the line into creepy territory, especially in the way he always appeared when needed. The pace was quite gentle at the beginning, but got going once the choir found goals and more started to happen. Overall, good heartfelt, sensitively written chicklit; if you enjoyed Ten Years On then you’ll definitely love this too.

Frothy Ranking: 4/5 cocktails.

Can be obtained from:

UK: Amazon, Waterstones and WHSmith for £1.99

US: Amazon for $1.99

Letters From My Sister – Alice Peterson

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Katie thinks she is living her life to the full, running her own clothing store, arranging fashion shows, and cohabiting in London with her career-driven boyfriend, Sam. But in the space of a fortnight her outlook changes completely, due to her unusual sister Isabel (Bells) visiting while their parents go mysteriously off the grid. Bells normally lives in a residential community in Wales, and despite her regular letters to Katie, hasn’t seen her or heard from her for a long time. Katie doesn’t understand why she’s kept her own family distant, avoided her lovable sister for so long, and why she hasn’t mentioned her to Sam or any of her London friends. In seeing things from Bells’s (uninhibitedly outspoken) perspective for a while, getting reacquainted with her, and keeping her safe, Katie comes to see what’s missing from her life and her relationship. But is it too late to fix things?

Kooks for your Kindle?– The author has created some vivid characters, the most interesting being Bells. Bells knows she’s different from most people, but has found peace in her supportive community. Her difficulties come in situations with the general public where her odd social behaviour are not always met with understanding, although they occasionally turn in to a good ice-breaker to meet new open-minded people. Despite this and some minor problems, she lives a full life with her friends, her love of football and movies, and her vast talent for cooking.

It’s clear from the start that Sam is very much concerned with image and appearances; and is thus not well suited to artistic Katie. He’s not totally insensitive though, and tries to understand her in his own way. Katie’s friends and colleagues are much more considerate of Bells.

The Bella-Swan-Pathetically-Self-Sacrificing-Factor– That’s not the case here, Katie is strong and confident in most aspects of her life, although it’s not easy to empathise with her in the beginning. At first glance it might appear that Katie has been selfish, keeping her family at arm’s length for the last ten years, but via a series of little flashbacks, we are shown glimpses of all stages of her childhood. I won’t spoil it, but let’s just say it’s easier to understand when we see things from her point of view.

Painting a picture for your paperback?– The book is set in London and although I’m not a lover of cities myself, it did sound appealing; picnics in the park, nightlife, public transport, good pubs and coffee shops. However the most vivid picture painted is that of Bells and Katie’s sisterhood.

Evaluation of your eBook?– My initial frustration with Katie for not telling anyone in London about her sister faded and I then thoroughly enjoyed the journey. Bells was an unexpected and effective second-lead character, her innocent perspective opened things up completely. It’s gripping and well paced, speeding up in correlation with the increasing chaos as Katie’s life unravels. The romance side of the story began as par for the course but with some unexpected spanners thrown in the works. Seeing Katie change and try to rebuild her disarrayed family was gratifying, and as I’ve come to expect from the author, it’s a warm, touching, fun read, with an understanding take on a sensitive subject.

Frothy Ranking: 4/5 cocktails.

Note– This version released Nov 1012 but previously published as Look The World In The Eye

Can be obtained from:

UK: Amazon did have it on special for 99p, but currently it seems to be £4.19, but click the price to get the latest. WHSmith for £5.64.

US: Kobobooks for $7.99. It’s not currently on Amazon.

The Man Who Forgot His Wife – John O’Farrell

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Some men forget their wife’s birthday, or to buy milk. Vaughan has forgotten his entire personal life. It starts on a London train, where he sits confused, having unknowingly suffered a psychogenic fugue, not knowing who he is, where he lives, or anything else about his personal life. Finding a hospital, he is finally claimed by a friend, reintroduced to his life and discovers love at first sight- with the woman he is divorcing. This hilarious and wise story tells of how he gradually regains his memories, why he lost them in the first place, and how he fights to win back his wife and kids.

Kooks for your Kindle?– Some cracking characters in this, best mate Gary is mostly well-intentioned but amusingly deluded and nicely balanced by his baby-obsessed wife Linda. Vaughan’s wife Maddy is complex and lovable, it would also have been interesting to hear parts of the story from her point of view as she had a lot going on. His kids are a larger part of the story than usual, and their feelings are poignantly represented. I also have a soft spot for the self-loathing labrador with its inner monologue.

The Bella-Swan-Pathetically-Self-Sacrificing-Factor– None of that rubbish here, Vaughan has hit the control-alt-delete in his head and is starting over. With a fresh perspective he knows he’d be silly to let go of his family, and goes on a mission to regain them.

Painting a picture for your paperback?– This tale could be set anywhere, but works well in London with its inner city school in which Vaughan attempts to teach history to troublesome kids.

Evaluation of your eBook?– It’s hard to categorise this one, as the subject matter is serious and heartfelt, but the tone is really, really funny! It’s a definite romantic comedy, but it feels less frothy- I don’t think this is because it’s written from a man’s point of view, for Vaughan is a little ditzy at times. The author’s insights into family and the meaning of marriage are wise and witty, and the characters are sharply observed and recognisable from real life.

I was expecting to draw parallels with Before I Go To Sleep, another amnesiac tale (not yet reviewed here), but this is totally different in tone and type of amnesia, less thriller, more philosophical rom-com, plus it’s laugh-out-loud funny.

Frothy Ranking: 5/5 cocktails.

Can be obtained from:

UK: £3.67 from Amazon and £4.99 from WHSmith.

US: $10.29 from Kobobooks. Not on Amazon US.

Here Come The Girls – Milly Johnson

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Four old friends facing their dreaded fortieth birthdays are reminded of a pact they’d made as school girls twenty-five years earlier- to go on a cruise together. However two of them aren’t speaking to each other, and none of them have any money to speak of. Roz is in a dead end job and struggling to trust and appreciate her lovely man, having been betrayed in the past. Olive is living a life of servitude to her lazy husband and his family, while supporting them by cleaning other people’s houses too. Formerly gregarious Frankie has mysteriously left the area to live a quiet life miles away. Ven has had a hard couple of years having lost both parents and a bad husband, but is determined to get the girls together for her birthday, honouring their pact.

When Ven tells them she’s won an all expenses paid cruise stopping in at her namesake city of Venice, she manages to convince them to let go of their miserable lives for a couple of weeks, but has to trick them by hiding Frankie from Roz until they’re on board. In escaping for a short time, all their lives are massively changed, secrets revealed, and in the case of Olive, old Greek haunts revisited.

Kooks for your Kindle?– The supporting characters are entertainingly larger than life, unlike the four leads who are more suitably real. Olive’s husband and mother in law are more like fairy tale baddies in the way they have mentally beaten her into submission. Their cruise dinner companions are initially somewhat obnoxious, but come to reveal kinder, thoughtful sides. A creatively named cast of cruise staff make up the varied characters.

The Bella-Swan-Pathetically-Self-Sacrificing-Factor– The easiest person to empathise with is Olive, as we get to know her the best. But it is a struggle to understand why she stayed in such a living situation for so long. Perhaps it’s the frog in boiling water theory- if things get bad suddenly, you notice and jump out, but if they slowly deteriorate, you don’t realise until it’s too late. We don’t get to know Frankie and Ven quite so well at first, probably so they can keep their secrets until later in the book. Roz is like a wounded bird, and knows she has a man that loves her, but is unable to let go of her fears and trust him.

Painting a picture for your paperback?– The idea of a cruise had never appealed to me, but I can see how it would be a nice break, especially when it’s free! Although I think the thought of three thousand people all disembarking for the same excursions is a bit claustrophobic, and I have no idea why the same dinner seating plans are kept every day when there’s opportunity to mix with all sorts of people, and escape those you don’t like! On the plus side, unlimited gourmet food and drink, pampering, and a bit of sunshine never go amiss.

Evaluation of your eBook?– This one crept up on me; it took a couple of chapters to get into it, mainly due to getting used to the four main characters and knowing which was which. By this time I was rooting for them all to get away from their sorry lives, so couldn’t put it down. Most of the story takes place on the ship, and is pretty fast paced. There’s an element of revenge by living well on Olive’s part, and her family’s antics (while they are left without her help) are glimpsed. I imagine if you’re approaching middle age and wondering what on earth happened to your life, or if you just fancy a vicarious holiday, this would be an especially good choice. I’ll confess I guessed one of the mysteries, and had a feeling about the other, but that didn’t spoil it. It’s a readable tale about friendship and trust, with a bit of travel, comedy, and romance thrown in for good measure.

Frothy Ranking: 4/5 cocktails.

Can be obtained from:

UK: £1.99 on Amazon.

US: Not on Amazon kindle, but is on Kobobooks for $8.29.
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The Ladies’ Room – Carolyn Brown

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Back to the other side of the Atlantic for this lovely Oklahoma tale of a woman getting her groove back. Trudy is fast approaching forty, heavier than she’d like to be, and has been taken advantage of for the last twenty years. At her elderly Aunt Gert’s funeral she overhears some home truths from a couple of mean cousins while she’s hiding in the titular ladies’ room addressing a wardrobe malfunction. Her husband of twenty years has been cheating on her the whole time with the whole town’s knowledge, her daughter eloped to Vegas with an unsuitable man, she’s frumpier than her 39 years, and is generally considered a doormat.

Fortunately Trudy decides it’s no more Mrs Nice and goes it alone. At the reading of her Aunt’s will, Trudy inherits her estate, much to the amusement of her cousins who believe the run down house is a liability with no funds to fix it up. Karma soon visits Trudy with news of a tidy sum of money and a very handy neighbour, her childhood friend Billy Lee, who’s already been paid to fix up the house for her. As Trudy gets revenge on her husband and begins her new independent life, she’s not as alone as she’d thought.

Kooks for your Kindle?– The mean cousins, Marty and Betsy are the ugly stepsisters of the story, fortunately for Trudy she has the last laugh when the full extent of the inheritance is revealed. Trudy’s husband Drew is a philandering, pompous lawyer, and it’s a pleasure to see him get his comeuppance- you’ll never be without a tin of sardines in the house after reading this. Trudy’s mother is lovingly portrayed as an Alzheimer’s sufferer, living in a nearby care home, and some sensitive humour is even found in one of her bad days.

Trudy’s daughter Crystal has clearly learned from her father’s example that it’s okay to treat her mother like dirt, and is in for a shock when neither of them can convince Trudy to stop being a “fool” and come home. Finally, Billy Lee the kind, gentle neighbour was only known to Trudy as the odd boy that used to play with her and her cousins as children; so she’s surprised to learn that he was good friends with her cantankerous old Aunt. However there’s even more to Billy Lee than meets the eye and Trudy begins to appreciate his relaxed friendship more and more.

The Bella-Swan-Pathetically-Self-Sacrificing-Factor– Trudy may have been a pushover in the past, but thankfully we join the story just as she begins to take life by the throat. Trudy reminds me of a younger Evelyn Couch in the classic Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe– a traditional southern woman over-eager to please her unappreciative husband, overweight due to a bad relationship with food, who then finally flips. There are also echoes of the wholesome heroine in Sweet Tea and Secrets, in as much as she’s inherited a house in a church-centred community. Thankfully Trudy has dark elements of wickedness in her humour to avoid being too exemplary.

Painting a picture for your paperback?– Set in Oklahoma, we have a couple of excursions to break things up, but on the whole it’s set in the stifling heat of summer in Trudy’s small town. It’s what I like to call a Community book; everybody knows everybody’s business, for better or for worse.

Nookie for your Nook?– Clean as a whistle, can be recommended to all ages with nary a blush.

Evaluation of your eBook?– I love a good revenge story, and although they say living well is the best revenge, I say throw in a touch of vindictiveness if the other party really deserves it! Trudy regains her self respect, and everything else follows. I found Billy Lee an unusual hero, his long term interest in Trudy could easily have crossed into stalker territory, but the author manages to keep him likable. There are some truly horrible tertiary characters, but it all shakes down. All in all a very sweet, good-natured, feel-good, page-turner of a book- devoured over a day in only around 3 hours if you read as fast as me, just to make sure Trudy gets the happy ending she deserves. Definitely worth the low price, only available from Amazon as far as I’ve found.

Frothy Ranking: 4/5 cocktails.

Can be obtained from:

UK: £1.52 on Amazon.

US: $2.99 on Amazon.

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? – Claudia Carroll

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Irish actress Annie is only twenty-eight years old but wondering what happened to her life- she married the love of her life and lived a fun life in Dublin with a promising career for a while, before finding herself living in the sticks, in the middle of a veterinary practice in a home that’s not her own and overrun with people. Dan is Annie’s husband and took over his late father’s practice three years earlier, and also took over the large family home from his mother- on the condition that they didn’t change a thing. Annie has a part time job but is left to her own devices most of the time while Dan works long hours and the house is invaded by her unemployed young sister-in-law, her interfering mother-in-law, vet colleagues and various neighbours. When opportunity knocks, Annie takes the chance to act in a Broadway play for a year and when the distance takes its toll they decide to take a marriage break for a year.

Kooks for your Kindle?– Plenty of these to go around, although none are unbelievably over the top. Liz, Annie’s friend and colleague in New York is quite the wild woman, but comes crashing down to earth with some very real problems. Jack, Annie’s predatory director, seemed a little reptilian to me, the type to want what he can’t have. Jules, Dan’s little sister is more than just a lovable freeloader, she becomes a good friend and ally to Annie; the only person in Ireland who sees what Annie is going through and interferes to try and keep them together, even if her motives aren’t totally selfless! Annie’s mother is interesting, a diplomat based in Washington with some wisdom to impart and her own way of supporting her daughter. The wanna-be home-wrecking neighbour Lisa is a piece of work, who soon sees Dan as an easy mark and tries to enlist him as her financial sponsor and potential new Dad for her kids.

The Bella-Swan-Pathetically-Self-Sacrificing-Factor– Annie is an enigma- she has the guts to take such a far away job and stand on stage in front of hundreds of people, but she let everybody walk all over her at home. The house was passed on to them by Dan’s mother when she moved to a nearby flat, but they aren’t allowed to change a thing, and the vet practice is adjoining so staff are forever traipsing through the house. To say nothing of the 24 hour a day phone calls. I suppose I’m the opposite, I would have happily pitched a fit at home to get some privacy, but wouldn’t dare get up on stage!

Painting a picture for your paperback?– the aforementioned living situation was horrifying to me, although the close-knit Irish community has its charms. New York is joyously portrayed as the city of Annie’s freedom, where she has a fabulous apartment and some days free to explore the city as a single woman. She’s even lucky enough to go to the Tony awards and the Hamptons, although both take a turn for the disastrous.

Evaluation of your eBook?– It’s a well written, well paced read, hard to put down once it gets going; I finished the whole thing in 4 or 5 hours on a long flight. The ending felt a little anti-climactic, I would have liked to see Annie speak her mind to everyone back home. The writing style is modern, quick and funny, although some descriptions are repeated a few times, and “anyroadup” is deployed with abandon! On the whole, recommended for a quick, charming, entertaining tale with some good turns along the way.

Frothy Ranking: 3.5/5 cocktails.

Can be obtained from:

UK: £3.99 from Amazon, WHSmith, and Waterstones.

US: Unfortunately not currently available as an ebook on Amazon, Kobobooks or Ebooks.

Last Christmas- Julia Williams

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Got some catching up to do here, as this book has been out for a couple of years and there is already a sequel- but there’s no rush. This seasonal English tale focuses mainly on the lives of four characters from one Christmas to the next. City girl and teacher Marianne starts off engaged to too-good-to-be-true Luke, who soon shows his bad side, leaving her finding her feet in a Shropshire village that rejoices in the name of Hope Christmas. Gabriel lives there too, but he’s a returnee, reclaiming his roots as a sheep farmer and making a new home for his young son after his wife abandoned them both. Meanwhile in London, engineer and father of four Noel is feeling increasingly lost as his job forces him to work on an environmentally disastrous project near Hope Christmas, and his wife Cat is too busy to focus on him. Cat however, has problems of her own, the au-pair from hell, a blogging career gone crazy, and a mother showing frightening signs of dementia. Events hop back and forth between the Christmas period one year, and the whole of the following year leading up to Christmas again, where their lives converge.

Kooks for your Kindle?– The author’s strength here is to have created a varied and realistic selection of characters, with a few fun locals thrown in for good measure. I’ve put the book into the ‘Supernatural Froth’ category only because of one character, hope I’m not spoiling the book here, but there’s obviously something special about him. Many of the characters have Christmassy names, Noel Tinsall, Gabriel and Eve among others. Thankfully there’s no Holly, for two of my recently reviewed books had her as a heroine. Cat’s mother Louise was particularly sensitively portrayed as she becomes more and more clouded with dementia.

The Bella-Swan-Pathetically-Self-Sacrificing-Factor– Most of the characters are pleasingly assertive enough, although Magda the au-pair gets away some stunning shenanigans before Cat gets up the nerve to fire her.

Painting a picture for your paperback?– I seem to have read a few books lately where people give up the cold loneliness of city life to live in harmony in the warm community of a rural village, and there find love and fulfillment; especially among Christmas reads. Hopefully it’s possible for the rest of us who don’t have sheep and funny old folks next door to have a good festive season, or we’re all in trouble! Don’t get me wrong, it does sound appealing.

Nookie for your Nook?– Clean as a whistle, I’d like to say mother-in-law proof, but as there is one unpleasant mother-in-law in the book she might take it the wrong way. Although this one (Angela) does have a rather major personality improvement towards the end.

Evaluation of your eBook?– I found the structure a little uneven, flashing back and forth between two Christmases was fine, but the ‘last year’ period was only over a week or so and the ‘this year’ seemed to be over a whole year. However this kept the pages turning due to a few cliffhanger chapter ends. On the whole a nice warm seasonal read, categorised as ‘Frothy with Substance’ as the subject matter also includes some serious topics; mental illness, dementia, bullying and redundancy. Don’t let that put you off though, it’s not all doom and gloom; it’s a heartwarming tale, quite humorous and the villagers liven things up. It’s a fairly substantial read, long enough to keep you entertained on holiday journeys, and well worth the price (below).

Frothy Ranking: 3/5 cocktails.

Can be obtained from:

UK: £1.99 from Amazon.

US: $3.79 from Amazon.

Twelve Days of Christmas – Trisha Ashley

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I had planned on devouring a few little Christmas novellas and putting together a combined post- but this book turned out to be full size and better than expected, earning itself a dedicated review! In this cosy English Christmas tale, Holly, professional chef and house-sitter in her late thirties, plans a lone Christmas minding a big, remote house, and working on writing a cookbook while avoiding thoughts of her late husband. Of course life happens while we make other plans, and she ends up caring for assorted animals, taking in various older folk and a lonely twelve year old girl. Jude, the cantankerous homeowner unexpectedly returns on Christmas Eve, as well as his estranged brother Guy, a random stranded actor, and the vapid model who stole Guy from Jude the previous Christmas. Unfortunately for Holly, that’s when they all get snowed in for two weeks, sending her on a mass cooking spree, while in her spare seconds she reads her recently deceased Grandmother’s diaries and discovers a surprising connection to the family that she’s trapped with.

Kooks for your Kindle?– A lovable selection of characters, both real and over-the-top. The Martland extended family immediately suck Holly in, and drop heavy hints until she agrees to cook for them all on Christmas day. This then extends to the retired reverend and the former nanny, and the waifs and strays that get trapped in the village. Coco the vacuous model accommodates a variety of eating disorders, while hell bent on getting engaged to the licentious brother Guy and then escaping. Becca, the matter-of-fact equestrian aunt, made me picture a slightly older Camilla Parker-Bowles, as she capably gets the animals (and some people) under control once she comes to stay. Once Jude rushes home after another aunt has a fall, he is stunned to find Holly is more than capable of keeping everyone going while they are besieged by snow. Their confrontational relationship begins on the phone when she first starts work, and goes downhill from there as he continually misjudges her, and Holly doesn’t capitulate.

The Bella-Swan-Pathetically-Self-Sacrificing-Factor– Holly is a strong character, happier and more positive than her history would belie. Although she avoids Christmas as a rule, she doesn’t mope, she makes herself useful. I liked the way she was upfront about the family connection when asked, rather than setting up a stereotypical big falling-out at the end. This story could easily have descended into sit-com type misunderstandings and farce, but stays above that as a humourous heartfelt tale.

Painting a picture for your paperback?– This book had the kind of atmosphere that makes you miss it once you’ve finished, the snowed-in village was so festive, and the close-knit village community with their traditions was very warm. I’d describe it as cosy without being cloying or sentimental. I can’t imagine anywhere would be more Christmassy than a big old house (with separate wings!) with open fireplaces, an aga in the kitchen, stables, snowy fields, a big daft dog, bad phone reception, and an icy lane that’s a trap for unequipped tourists misdirected by their sat-navs. An owner rich enough to heat the place and stock the kitchen sufficiently to feed the masses helps too.

Nookie for your Nook?– It’s pretty clean, which is good because it would be a good one to recommend to the mother-in-law.

Evaluation of your eBook?– This will definitely give you a case of the seasonal warm and fuzzies, and might inspire some special Christmas cooking too, as a lot of the tale is centered on the kitchen- there are even some recipes included at the end. It has a slightly old fashioned feel to it, even Holly seems older that her years, the story could easily have taken place 30 years ago -apart from walking up the hill to get a phone signal. I do love a tale of a lonely soul finding family, in whatever form, and this is a particularly good example. Holly immediately fits right in with the locals, and warms the house with her cooking and her personality, even ‘fixing’ a few people along the way. The story is interwoven with snippets of her grandmother’s wartime diaries, which help Holly to heal after losing her and her husband too. The book was longer than expected, but I couldn’t put it down, it was a good approximately six hour read in total, so if you can put it down occasionally, it’ll keep you sane in the holidays. It’s a total bargain too.

Frothy Ranking: 4/5 cocktails.

Can be obtained from:

US: Only 99c at Amazon and $7.39 at Kobobooks
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UK: 99p from Amazon and WHSmith