Monthly Archives: October 2013

Me and You – Claudia Carroll

Posted on by

What to expect:
Heartbreaking and uplifting, Me and You is a story about how hard it is to leave our old selves behind, the tough choices we sometimes have to make and how love and friendship can heal the most damaged of hearts.
“I’m fine. I’m sorry. Please take care of him for me. And maybe one day I’ll get to explain.”
Angie knows a lot about her best friend Kitty. She knows Kitty is mad and wild and loves to wear clashing colours. She knows she’s incredibly funny and generous but also very unreliable. And she knows that there is a perfect explanation for Kitty standing her up on her birthday. She thinks she knows everything about Kitty, except she doesn’t.
Kitty knows that she is the happiest she has ever been. She knows she’s so lucky to have a lovely boyfriend, Simon and a best friend like Angie. But what she doesn’t know is that on this night, her past is finally going to catch up with her and change everything.

The tale is told mostly from Angie’s perspective, with some reveals from Kitty. The subject matter is quite dark, but it’s told in a frothy style. Claudia Carroll is the same author who brought us another favourite Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow.

The Bella-Swan-Pathetically-Self-Sacrificing-Factor– Both leads are a bit of a mess, although they appear outwardly strong and like to think of themselves as ‘gobby’, but when it comes down to it, both ended up going under. Angie’s less outgoing and self-confident, whereas Kitty’s overcome the abandonment suffered in childhood. I’ll keep Kitty’s history a mystery in order to avoid spoilers, but it’s a frightening one. Angie has less self-confidence, she doesn’t stand up to her overbearing family and she’s terrible with men but when her best mate is in trouble she pulls out all the stops to search for answers. In a way I think this gives her the boost to sort her own life out.

Kooks for your Kindle?– Lots of lovely smaller characters, right down to the granny next door who ends up cooking for Angie and Simon in their darkest days. Mrs K (Kitty’s former foster mother) has Alzheimers now, but knew just how to sort her out when Kitty joined her as a teen. The antagonist is, let’s just say, scary. Everyone right down to the police and former colleagues are thoroughly brought to life.

Painting a Picture for your Paperback?– Set mostly in Dublin, the book has a hugely Irish feel to it. Told from Angie’s point of view for the most part, the colloquialisms bring it to life without reaching the point where subtitles are required- I’d never heard the term ‘holliers’ before, but in context all the words can be deciphered!

Evaluation of your eBook?– It’s longer than expected- at one stage I thought I’d reached the end as things were wrapping up, only to notice I was 50% through! But I’m glad it didn’t end there, as you will be. The beginning section- where Kitty goes missing and her friends are trying to find what’s happened to her- goes on a little too long while they don’t know whether she’s even alive, which is not a mystery for the reader as the blurb gives that much away. The narrative style is akin to a diary or a letter from a very old friend, for the most part at least, leading to a frothy feel. Without giving anything away, the themes explored at the end are really well done and give such an insight as to how such a terrible situation can happen to anyone. As for Angie’s story, her life takes a rewarding turn as she discovers her own potential. Recommended for a gripping read with added depth.

Frothy Ranking: 4/5 cocktails.

Can be obtained from:

UK: Amazon for 99p if it’s on special, click for the latest.

US: I can’t find it on any American sites yet, let me know and I’ll update.

Secrets of The Lighthouse- Santa Montefiore

Posted on by

What to expect:
“Ellen Trawton is running away from it all – quite literally. She is due to get married to a man she doesn’t love, her job is dragging her down and her interfering mother is getting on her nerves. So she escapes to the one place she know her mother won’t follow her – to her aunt’s house in rural Ireland. Once there, she uncovers a dark family secret – and a future she never knew she might have.
Meanwhile, Caitlin Macausland is mourning the future she can never have. She died tragically in what the village thinks is suspicious circumstances, and now she is stuck in a limbo, unable to move on.
And between the two of them is an old lighthouse – the scene of so much tragedy. Can each woman find the peace she so desperately longs for? And can they find the way to live again?”

What starts off as a sad tale of a Caitlin watching her own funeral and Ellen escaping her own privileged yet empty life, becomes an uplifting tale.

Kooks for your Kindle?– I’ve tagged this under ‘Irish froth’, because although the author herself isn’t Irish, the book is mostly set there and is full of very Irish characters and warmth. Aunt Peg is the main relative, she’s kind and accommodating but doesn’t permit Ellen to remain in denial for too long. She’s also hiding a secret that makes it all the more poignant when she welcomes her sister’s daughter. Ellen’s mother Madeline has become thoroughly English but also horribly snobbish since marrying into the upper classes, she only wants the best for Ellen. So who is Dylan, and why did Madeline leave him behind all those years ago? Ellen is amazed to discover that her Mum also has lots of brothers, although they all blend into one with the exception of overbearing Desmond.

Conor links the two leading ladies, he’s Caitlin’s widower and five years later he becomes Ellen’s great love. He seems like bad news at first, and I thought he would be overly controlling, but thankfully he’s a good egg. However the locals all still view him with suspicion following his wife’s accidental death.

The Bella-Swan-Pathetically-Self-Sacrificing-Factor– Caitlin is the ghost, still jealous by nature and desperate for her husband’s love after all this time. Her journey is the most interesting, she takes a while to catch on, despite another most enlightened ghostly presence nearby. Ellen seems younger than her thirty-something years, and is a little spoiled, but a bit of Irish pragmatism soon beats some of it out of her. Her decision to run off without telling anyone in order to find herself seems a little childish, but it’s exactly what she needs, even if things don’t turn out remotely as she’d expected.

Painting a Picture for your Paperback?– As you might imagine, rural Ireland is lovingly portrayed, with windswept beaches, farmhouses, beautiful castles and a rundown lighthouse. The people are equally well illustrated, the bigger characters having some interesting twists and turns. Back in the UK, we don’t get to know Ellen’s sisters well, they were in background reminding me of the ugly stepsisters in Cinderella. Her mother’s interesting tale is the focus there.

Evaluation of your eBook?– I wasn’t sure at the start of the book, with the first ghostly chapter, but once the real world is established, there are enough mysteries to grab the reader. Unfortunately one of them is blatantly obvious to everyone except Ellen many chapters before the reveal, but there is still reason to stick around. It’s a nice atmospheric misty story with plenty of wise adages thrown around by the older folk mixed in with the modern younger generations. The supernatural element won’t be a surprise to regular readers of the author, I seem to remember a ghost in the last one of hers that I read (to say which would be to spoil that one), but Caitlin’s limbo-like existence is explored in an interesting way here. Few shocks, but a gentle ethereal tale for all ages.

Frothy Ranking: 3.5/5 cocktails.

Can be obtained from:

UK: Amazon for £4.75, although recently it was on 99p special so click for the latest.

US: Not on Amazon, but Kobobooks have it for $12.39.

Facebook Jeanie – Addison Westlake

Posted on by

What to expect:
“Ever wonder if you made the right choice? What if you could go back and find out?

31-year-old Clara is in a steady relationship—with Facebook. Every night after her depressing bureaucratic job (so much for saving the world), Clara comes home to her empty apartment (yes, she was dumped) and settles down with a pint of ice cream for some good, old-fashioned Facebook stalking. It’s her college boyfriend, The One Who Got Away. With the bod of a God and a net worth of umpteen bamillion, he now has the perfect life—everything she could have had if she hadn’t been so, so stupid.

But, wait. Jeanie from Facebook shows up at Clara’s job. There’s a new app they’re beta-testing and Clara’s perfect for it. That night she clicks on it and… nothing happens. But the next morning when Clara wakes up at noon, hung over, listening to her roommate blow-drying her hair and singing “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It”, she realizes she’s back in college. With the chance to do it all over again.

Back in the world of frat parties, BFFs, and long-suffering, overlooked lab partners, join Clara as she discovers what it really means to hit the reset button on life. What could possibly go wrong? And, this time, can she get it right?”

I wasn’t sure whether I’d like this, what with the two main themes being Facebook and a hint of Groundhog Day (a movie I can’t like, despite the legendary Bill Murray). However the Facebook element is minimal, just a dash of your regular ex-boyfriend stalking and a mysterious time-resetting app. The time travel aspect doesn’t have the annoying repetitiveness of Groundhog Day, so fine by me!

Kooks for your Kindle?– Brad is the one who got away, happily married to the woman who was waiting in the wings in college and he’s earning a fortune as an investment banker. His polar opposite is Alek, formerly a foreign student from the Czech Republic in the flashbacks, and a seemingly humourless physics nerd with an attitude and well hidden charms. Jeanie is the woman who makes the craziness happen, and pops up like a pink-clad version of Mr Benn (pardon the obscure British reference).

The Bella-Swan-Pathetically-Self-Sacrificing-Factor– Clara has hit rock bottom and is a walking disaster having been ditched by her boyfriend, stuck in a dead-end job and overdosing both herself and her laptop on wine. Her misguided attempt to fix her situation involves accepting Jeanie’s offer and having a do-over; thus not breaking up with Brad and inserting herself into his happy-ever-after- which turns out to be a little different to his life with his original wife. Unfortunately she’s blind to the obvious and it takes a second re-set before she sees the answer to her problems and gains a refreshing perspective on life, redeeming her, somewhat. Clara’s not totally self-centred, even in her student days her passion was to help younger kids less fortunate than herself.

Painting a Picture for your Paperback?– The author certainly brings the past and the alternate timelines to life, with Clara’s pampered superficial life with Brad contrasting nicely to their second choice as hippies in San Francisco. The latter of those was particularly vivid and enough to scare anyone away from redwood trees.

Evaluation of your eBook?– I was pleasantly surprised, even though the romantic choices were foreseeable and the ending was very cheesy (especially the superfluous epilogue). The likable main characters and snappy narrative help, it’s fast paced and witty throughout. Both alternate futures were amusingly over-the-top, right down to Clara’s physical changes. I loved Jeanie’s explanation of how the system chooses sad candidates, the final straw being changing one’s profile photo to a cat (although I have to point out that the cat’s name, Jedi, is a type of person not the name of a character in Star Wars **nerd alert**). If you like funny, warm, frothy tales you’ll enjoy Clara’s transition from recently dumped, regrouping basket-case to….. someone a lot more together!
Many thanks to the author for the review copy.

Frothy Ranking: 3.5/5 cocktails.

Can be obtained from:

UK: Amazon for £1.93.

US: Amazon for $2.99.