#Review By Lou of Maybe Tomorrow by Penny Parkes @CotswoldPenny @BookMinxSJV @simonschusterUK #BlogTour

Maybe Tomorrow
By Penny Parkes

Having very much enjoyed Home by Penny Parkes, in an unputdownable, totally enthralling kind of way, I jumped at the chance of Maybe Tomorrow to see if I’d also enjoy that too… So, thanks to the publisher, Simon and Schuster for inviting me onto the blog tour, I got the opportunity to read and review.
So, follow on down to the blurb and my review below…

Blurb

A story of friendship, possibilities and hope that maybe tomorrow will be brighter than today . . .

Jamie Matson had once enjoyed a wonderful life working alongside her best friend, organising adventures for single-parent families, and her son Bo’s artistic flair a source of pride rather than concern.

She hadn’t been prepared to lose her business, her home and her friend. Not all in one dreadful year.

Jamie certainly hadn’t expected to find such hope and camaraderie in the queue at her local food bank. Thrown together with an unlikely and colourful group of people, their friendships flourish and, finding it easier to be objective about each other than about themselves, they decide that – when you’re all out of options – it’s okay to bend the rules a little and create your own.

What a difference a year could make . . .

Review

When things are tough, we all hope for a better tomorrow, don’t we? Well, even Jamie Matson hopes so. Life is great and when life is so great and running in a smooth line, we all know what can happen, right? Something changes and that line develops kinks, until it shatters.

Jamie had a life of working alongside her best friend, organising adventures for single-parent families. It all sounds amazing fun, amongst having a lot of work to pull each one off. She also has a comfortable roof over her head. This all abruptly changes as this comfort, and in some ways, privilege and one that many people take for granted, shatters and crumbles, fast. She loses her friend and their business as well as her home. It shows how one minute you can be sailing through life, and the next, what you knew, what you got so comfortable with, can come crashing down, causing immense impact. It a sad situation, but in a way I like the way this book goes because it may grab readers attention, to look around them, especially if they have a comfortable lifestyle and truly think how lucky they are, but also how there are times when the certainty of wealth and things, doesn’t necessarily always last forever.

Then, comes the hope. It comes in the form of friendships in places she never would have expected to find it, along with the element of when you’ve hit rock bottom and not many options left but to try and re-invent your life and find what’s next and confound all the rules.
I think this is brilliantly done, with the warmth and all sorts of people who find themselves using the food bank.

The book is more uplifting than you think, with the friendships formed and the hope that it provides. It is a compelling and highly satisfying read.

Shoutout for #RespectRomFic – #Article written By Lou – More to Rom-Fic Than Meets The Eye @BookMinxSJV @RNATweets #RespectRomFic

Today’s the 1st anniversary of the #RespectRomFic movement I joined in collaboration with @BookMinxSJV & @RNAtweets aiming to shift the dismissive attitude I believe the genre receives. There are 500 other industry professionals involved in this movement. For this, as well as tweets I have chosen to write an article about what makes Rom-Fic relevant and important to today and how there is more to this genre than meets the eye.

Rom-Fic – More Than Meets The Eye

Publishers and many authors of the rom-com/romantic fiction – also known as contemporary fiction/women’s fiction are doing a shout out about their genre, to highlight its importance and relevancy in the world. As a blogger and reviewer, sure, I read and enjoy most genres and review them, but today I would like to also draw your attention to this in a short article about a genre, not just written by women, but also men and they’re doing it well and not necessarily in ways you may presume.

Rom-Fic (Romantic Fiction) it isn’t what it used to be, it is, nowadays far from slushy and no longer as overly flowery as it once was. Over the years it has evolved and changed. It also used to be the most read genre, over crime fiction, hard to believe nowadays with everything being about that particular genre, but true, and even today it is hot off the heels to crime and thrillers. There are even elements of mystery within some romantic fiction with puzzles to solve too.

Rom-Fic is far from dull. It has drama, spirit, intrigue, secrets and grit to get your readers eyes stuck into and to unravel. Romance features, but isn’t the only part of the books. Friendships, community spirit, family ties, discovering second chances in life and mystery also all feature with realistic protagonists who have lives that are relatable. Readers can be enveloped within their lives, through the good and hard times.

Rom-Fic is important! It contains the issues of the times it is written in, or issues people have lived through, that are universally acknowledged. There are themes of friendship, grief, community spirit, romance, family ties and splits. Within those themes, there is often tensions and struggles to overcome, leaving nothing sugar-coated or saccharine.
Within this, is the power to flood all your senses. It has the power to move you emotionally, whether that’s laughing out loud and feeling good or making you feel empathy and sympathy, sometimes leaving not a dry eye in its wake. Sometimes the writing can be so evocative that you can almost touch or smell what is being written about, whether it is in the landscape, an object, food or a person. There is also the sensuality of romance, whether it is budding or in full bloom as well as the flip-side of tensions between failing relationships or the re-building of them or starting over.

The way the plots are constructed/written has grip, creating a intrigue and a page-turning experience as tensions are built up between characters and/or certain events happen, or in the way they whisk you off into a place you either know or you don’t, but there is always lots to explore.

Rom-Fic is good for your wellbeing as they are books you can relax into. It certainly gets the endorphins going as they often have a happy ending or one that you can revel in, but with the realism that to get to that place isn’t instant; there is often a rocky road to take before reaching there and success isn’t instantaneous when changing or adding to your life.
This genre is also good for society as people develop a greater understanding of others or become inspired by something for when readers re-emerge from the books, back into the real world.

Below I have 6 quick reviews and links to the full reviews, that also include blurbs and open on a different page, of the many excellent Rom-Fic books I have read, reviewed and enjoyed. Each, I think shows something different within this genre. I wish I could show them all, but imagine how large this article would be…

The Summer Fair By Heidi Swain sees Beth working in a carehome. We see her struggle with the death of her mum as she denies all she loved prior to this event. She finds herself with a new opportunity in Nightengale Square to help with a special event in the community gardens. This is a feel-good uplifting book with community spirit, grit, friendship and romance in the offering. Find the full review here:
The Summer Fair

Three’s A Crowd by S.R. Booker deals with a father and son estrangement. There is also Harriet who has many intrusive thoughts whirring through her complex neuro-divergent mind. She has had a few boyfriends, but can she find love this time? This book will have you laughing through many of the pages as well as having your heart-strings tugged. Find the blurb and full review here – Three’s A Crowd

The Daughter-In-Law By Fanny Blake is a multi-generational story showing the complexities of relationships. The romance is already there, this is more about the tensions of work and someone unexpected appears on the scene. The tensions build and the family are on a knife-edge as secrets are discovered by readers in this twisty book that show relationships are anything but straight-forward. Find the blurb and full review here: The Daughter-In-Law

In The Mood by M.W. Arnold is actually part of the Air Transport Auxiliary Mystery Club. This also, however a Rom-Fic. A marriage is breaking in 1944 through a harshness of words, but can it be saved? There is also the murky business of blackmail. This also shows how Rom-Fic can cross genres. Find my review here:
In The Mood

Promise Me By Jill Mansell is a multigenerational book set in Foxwell, a place with lovely food and shops. It is also about Lou and the community of people she meets, including a curmudgeon octogenarian Edgar. He makes her a promise when she is working for him in what becomes an uplifting, heartwarming story. What is Edgar’s promise? There is also a single man in town. What will Lou make of him?
You will also find out how all the different relationships develop. Find my full review and blurb here:
The Promise

Love In Lockdown by Chloe James shows how rom-fic isn’t afraid of the hardest, darkest of the most recent times we have lived in. This covers the lockdowns at the height of Covid-19 lockdowns. It shows kindness and compassion. It is surprisingly uplifting as people connect through different technologies and even romance starts to bud. Find the blurb and review here: Love In Lockdown

#Spotlight on Conviction By Jack Jordan – his new #Thriller @JackJordanBooks @simonschusterUK #compulsivereaders #BlogTour #Conviction

Today I have a spotlight post on Conviction, but first, let me tell you a bit about the hugely successful Do No Harm. It is a Sunday Times 10 bestseller for 2 weeks running, Waterstones Thriller of The Month and #2 in the Saturday Times bestseller list. It has been making huge waves across all social media platforms. Find out more about the medical, psychological crime thriller that is so cleverly written by Jack Jordan in my review link: Do No Harm.

Conviction – published 22nd June and can be pre-ordered for a special signed copy from Waterstones link – Waterstones – Signed Copy of Conviction is hot off the heels of Do No Harm, Out Now (other retailers can be found below).

Conviction is set to be another thrilling book, this time within the world of the legal system. Find out about this exciting book in the blurb and then you’ll come across the link as to how to buy such gripping books. You won’t want to miss them!
Don’t just take it from me, take a look at the comments early readers are already making, some may just be authors you enjoy.

CONVICTION

Wade Darling stands accused of killing his wife and teenage

children as they slept and burning their house to the ground.

When the case lands on barrister Neve Harper’s desk, she knows

it could make her career.

A matter of days before the case, as Neve is travelling home for

the night, she is approached by a man. He tells her she must

throw the case or the secret about her husband’s disappearance

will be revealed. Failing that, he will kill everyone she cares

about, until she does as she is told.

Neve must make a choice – go against every principle she has

ever had, or the people she loves will die.

Here are some of the comments early readers are saying about it, some of whom are very popular authors themselves who just can’t get enough of it, looking at their glowing positivity:

‘No one crafts a dilemma quite like Jack Jordan. Conviction is a tour de force of a legal thriller that will have you guessing at every turn and then gasping when the plot inevitably catches you unawares. His characters are beautifully and shockingly flawed yet so vividly drawn you just can’t help investing in them – and if you’re anything like I was, you’ll be swept away on a thrilling ride that starts from the very first page’ Janice Hallett

‘No one crafts a dilemma quite like Jack Jordan. Conviction is a tour de force of a legal
If you like a legal thriller you’ll love this!’ – Harriet Tyce

‘A masterclass in misdirection. Smart, stylish, taut and twisting. Conviction is Jack Jordan’s best yet’ Chris Whitaker

Where you can buy Conviction. Also look out for Do No Harm if you haven’t already read it

Waterstones Foyles Bookshop.org Amazon

#Review By Lou of The Cornish Hideaway by Jennifer Bibby @jennyfromthewr1 @simonschusterUK @BookMinxSJV @#TeamBATC #TheCornishHideaway #Blogtour

The Cornish Hideaway
By Jennifer Bibby

Enter sun-drenched Cornwall in the Cornish Hideaway. Discover more in the blurb and review below.
Thanks to Books and the City – Simon and Schuster for inviting me on the blog tour with a book in-exchange of an honest review.

Blurb

All Freya has ever wanted to do is paint. So when she fails her Master’s Degree in Art, on the same day that her boyfriend decides he needs a ‘more serious’ partner, to Freya it feels like the end of the world.

Luckily, she has a saviour in the shape of best friend Lola, who invites her to the sleepy Cornish village of Polcarrow, to work in her café. With nothing keeping her in London, Freya jumps at the chance of a summer by the sea.

Freya needs time to focus on herself. But then dark and mysterious biker Angelo blows into town on a stormy afternoon, with his own artistic dreams and a secretive past, and Freya’s plans of a romance-free summer fly straight out of the window…

Heart-warming, heartfelt and romantic, The Cornish Hideaway is a novel of community, friendship and learning to love again, for fans of Jenny Colgan, Cathy Bramley and Heidi Swain.

Review

The Cornish Hideaway is a bit of lovely escapism to curl up with after a busy day. There isn’t anything keeping Freya in London and Cornwall is the place of choice, when a friend practically rescues her and offers her a job in a cafe. This is when her life changes, from going from thinking it is the end of the world to being in a village by the sea. It was then going to become her coastal hideaway, after all, what could happen in somewhere that seems so sleepy? A new lover for starters, someone who is arty and is unlike the previous guy in her life, who was way too serious for her anyway and possibly not helped that she didn’t pass her art course. I quite like that she isn’t some high-flyer because not everyone can be, nor is in real life (the world just as not cope for a start if everyone is) and it gives a small sense of reality and shows that for the few, that they can get lucky and it at least provides escapism.

Alongside what seems like a perfect idyll, is her new romance entering Freya’s life, who has secrets and quite the dark past for her to learn. There’s quite a rocky road ahead…

It is time to be whisked away to Polcarrow in Cornwall and all its beautifully described scenery an uplifting characters with quite the past and quite the present.

About the Author

As a lifelong lover of stories, I spent my teenage years wowing various teachers with historical epics before finding my feet writing modern love stories. I enjoy exploring the lives of women as they set out on life changing adventures, which usually lead them somewhere picturesque and full of new friendships and of course, the promise of romance. I adore a romantic hero with a dark backstory, the typical bad boy turned good.

In addition to being a bibliophile (my to be read pile is embarrassing stacked all around my house) I love classy cocktails, cake and dressing in the vintage style – never leaving the house without my signature red lipstick. I’m happiest by the sea, or stomping around a muddy field and I love to travel (Venice is my absolute favourite place, it’s so enchanting and calls to the artist in me.) I love medieval history, steam trains and firmly believe dinosaurs improve everything.

The Cornish Hideaway is my debut novel and I hope you enjoy your trip to Polcarrow. Please feel free to follow me on twitter for sea, scones and story inspiration @jennyfromthewr1 Happy reading!

#BookReview By Lou of Escape to Darling Cove By Holly Hepburn @HollyH_Hepburn @BookMinxSJV @simonschusterUK #EscapeToDarlingCove this #winter it is a #Heartwarming #SeasideRetreat #ContemporaryFiction #romfic #BlogTour

Escape To Darling Cove
By Holly Hepburn

Picturesque settings and a lovely writing style is, in part of what you get with Escape to Darling Cove. Thanks to Sara Jade Virtue aka BookMinx at Simon and Schuster, I have a review as part of the blog tour. Paddle down to discover the blurb and review as well as a glimpse of a cover that looks good to step into.

Eve has always lived on Ennisfarne, an idyllic island just off the coast of Northumberland and only accessible when tides are low. There she runs a bar overlooking Darling Cove, a heavenly horseshoe-shaped beach named after her seafaring ancestors, whose links to the Farne Islands stretch back centuries.Logan is a famous photographer desperate to evade the limelight after a difficult break-up. Renting a cottage from Eve, he chooses Ennisfarne in the hope of anonymity but is immediately spellbound by its natural beauty.The pair don’t get off to the best start, butting heads over Eve’s adorable but boisterous Chocolate Labrador. But when Logan’s true identity is revealed, Eve realises her new tenant isn’t quite the man she thought he was. Is it too late to start again or will Logan’s island escape be over almost before it’s begun?
The brand new novel from Holly Hepburn, author of Coming Home to Brightwater Bay, will whisk you away to a sublime seaside retreat you’ll never want to leave.

Picture it now, stepping into a sandy cove at Ennisfarne, Northumberland with atmospheric views that even inspired the artist, Turner to pull out his paints and easel to recreate the scenes on canvas. Holly Hepburn has pulled out her writing instruments so you can paint the scenes in your imagination. It is like a painting in words. This is of course, not a book about that great landscape artist – Turner, he just happens to get a mention; rather it is about fictional characters Logan and Eve and their lives in this part of Northumberland.

Love and breaking up is never easy. Logan has gone to Ennisfarne because he’s just split from a one time love and to escape whatever the press may have to say about it. He’s a famous photographer. Breaking up is complicated when the lady who was in his life still appears to have feelings and there’s a lot to work out. Hepburn puts a great slant on this side of life and one that’s quite different as it isn’t one of all animosity in the beginning and how everything changes in an instant as his ex girlfriend, Suki suddenly has other ideas… Being famous in the public-eye, being in love and breaking up isn’t easy once everyone gets wind of it.

Eve Darling works in a bar and doesn’t initially have warm thoughts towards Logan Silk, although she sees him as good looking, she also notes he’s arrogant with what she would term as old-style attitudes. There is actually a great humour to be found in certain situations and her thoughts that hold quick-witted quips. How will it all end in what is a well written ending?

With its scenery that is a feast for the eyes, a plot and characters that makes compulsive reading, Escape To Darling Cove is another wonderful book from Holly Hepburn that will stay in your heart and mind. It’s a must read for fans of contemporary fiction.

#BookReview By Lou Three’s A Crowd By S.R. Booker @simonbooker @TeamBATC @simonschusterUK #ThreesACrowd #BlogTour

Three’s A Crowd
By S.R. Booker

Three’s A Crowd is laugh out loud funny, not a phrase I use often and it may just be one of the rom-coms of the year! A phrase I don’t use lightly. It’s absolutely wonderfully entertaining from start to finish. It will make your heart sing with joy. Find out more in the blurb and the rest of my review below…
I first thank The publisher Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to review on the blog tour and for gifting a copy of the book.

Blurb

What happens when an estranged father and son unwittingly fall in love with the same woman?

Out-of-work actor Harriet is recuperating from a crash-and-burn affair with Damian – aka ‘Cockweasel’ – and making ends meet as a barista when she meets two rather lovely men. Tom is a regular at the café, and seems like such a nice guy. Smooth-talking DJ Richard is older, but in great shape – a real silver fox.

Deciding to take a chance on both of them, Harriet doesn’t realise at first that she is actually dating father and son. Tom and Richard aren’t on speaking terms, and don’t share a last name – so how was she to know? By the time everyone finds out, both Tom and Richard are truly madly deeply in love with Harriet, and she’s faced with an impossible choice.

But as the battle for her affections intensifies, ‘Cockweasel’ makes an unexpected reappearance and begs her to give him another chance…

Review

Set in London, Three’s A Crowd is absolutely divine to read with such sublime writing.

Tom, Richard and Harriet are the main characters, with George popping in. The opening chapter has Tom posing a question. One that no doubt not many people would have even the slightest reason to consider. It certainly isn’t your usual every day one and as he ponders it, so does the reader, because suddenly it has to be done, even with slightly raised eyebrows at the audacity of what is going on…

There are 2 main guys and 1 woman and romance to be had…
Hilarious and also tender scenarios play out in an ordinary sounding cafe, but with an unusual set of circumstances, beginning with the question posed on the first page…
The sentence structures and the way the narrative is written also adds to the humour and also the honesty of certain situations, perhaps observed or perhaps researched. Either way, it is very enjoyable.

Tom is the son and he is not on speaking terms with his dad and is a cafe regular.
Harriet has had a few boyfriend issues and has terrific nicknames for them. works in a cafe and knows her regulars and is a professional actress. One who happens to have intrusive thoughts. She thinks with great honesty about how she is feeling, now, I don’t mean always of the dark nature, some are of the more romantic nature, just incredibly direct. There is absolutely no filter, no subtleness.
Richard, Tom’s dad has secrets about his wife going to Goa. He is also a radio DJ who reckons he should be in a higher position such as being on BBC Radio 2.

Harriet meets both Tom and Richard and hasn’t got a clue they belong to the same family and the two guys also haven’t a clue of the other one falling in love with her because they don’t communicate to each other.

There is so much that people will relate to in either part or all, right down to how men operate, allowing their partner/wife to book appointments etc. S.R. Booker, bravely, is so candid.

The plot is refreshing with incredibly funny with many laugh out loud moments. For an author who is more known for grittier, darker work in books and on tv, S.R. Booker has really pulled this work of contemporary romance with aplomb!

I did find myself rooting for Harriet and her complex mind, which Booksr portrays very well, but also very much enjoying the writing of Richard and Tom. George also pops into the book, adding a twist. There is a further one at the end, making it an excellent ending to such a great book.