BOOK REVIEW: The Sun in Her Eyes by Paige Toon

Blinding sunshine...A bend in the road...
What became of the little girl with the sun in her eyes?
Amber was three when a car crash stole her mother's life. She doesn't remember the accident, but a stranger at the scene has been unable to forget. Now, almost thirty years later, she's trying to track Amber down.
Amber, meanwhile, is married to Ned and living on the other side of the world in London. When her father has a stroke, she flies straight home to Australia to be with him. Away from her husband, Amber finds comfort in her oldest friends, but her feelings for Ethan, the gorgeous, green-eyed man she once fell for, have never been platonic.
As Ethan and Amber grow closer, married life in London feels very far away. Then Amber receives a letter that changes everything:
'Before your mother died, she asked me to tell you something...' 

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Pages: 385

I knew I was in for a treat when a review copy of Paige Toon's new book popped through my letterbox. The Sun in Her Eyes (fab title) is a perfect summer read. Obviously I'm glad that I've read it but I would say that this book would be the perfect holiday read as it has a little bit of everything.
Amber's mother was killed in a car crash when Amber was just three. She was in the car at the time but has no memory of it and no real memories of her mother. Nearly thirty years after the accident, a lady who was first on the scene is trying to locate Amber  as she promised her dying mother that she would pass on her message.
Amber has moved continent since then though, she left Australia for London where she is happily married to Ned. However, Amber's father has a stroke so she flies across to the other side of the world to be with him. Whilst back home she catches up with her childhood friends, including Ethan who she once loved. Amber and Ethan spend a lot of time together and she begins to question her marriage to Ned. If Ethan had returned her feelings years ago then would she even have met her loving husband? As Amber battles with her emotions and cares for her father; the lady from the accident is trying to find her, maybe their paths will cross now she is back at her family home.
Paige Toon has written such a good story, she carefully entwines the different elements together to make a book that you won't want to put down. I had so many questions throughout; what would happen with Amber and Ethan; does Amber still love Ned; what were her mother's final words?
I liked Amber, she is no way perfect but I did feel for her when she was torn between Ned and Ethan. It was interesting to think about the people you may have had feelings for as a teenager, how do those feelings translate when you are older? Is the memory actually better than the reality?
The Sun in Her Eyes is a marvellous book, perfect for those summer days we are having.

Many thanks to Simon & Schuster for sending me a review copy.

Fabulous Fridays: Chick Lit

I have been thinking about this post for a while but have been putting it off as I hate, hate, hate the term Chick lit! I think it has far too many derogatory connotations yet it is one of my favourite genres to read. So off I went to get a definition of what Chick Lit is and I found this:

Chick Lit is genre fiction which addresses issues of modern womanhood...

This still isn't great as it still sounds a bit feminist and bra burning to me but I interpret it as books about women! I am a woman and therefore it is likely that I am going to enjoy reading books about other women, I hold my hands up to the fact that I very rarely read books with a male lead character or written by a man. I think this is a subconscious choice, I do have a few male authors who I enjoy but it is mainly books by female authors sitting on my TBR pile.

So sorry for the preamble but here is a list of some of my favourite chick-lit books and inadvertently this list also includes all of my favourite chick-lit authors. These are the writers I go to when I want a great story, likeable characters, a bit of drama and the odd happy ending. These are the authors that I get excited about having a new book out as I just know that I am guaranteed a treat! 

I apologise right now if you don't agree with my definition of Chick Lit but I hope that some of these books might be of interest to you, just click on the title to read my review!

Have a lovely weekend

Dot
xxx 

The Teashop on the Corner by Milly Johnson (Simon & Schuster, 492 pages) Life is full of second chances...if only you keep your heart open for them.
Spring Hill Square is a pretty sanctuary away from the bustle of everyday life. And at its centre is Leni Merryman's Teashop on the Corner, a place where three people will find a friend to lean on.
Carla Pride has just discovered that her late husband Martin was not who she thought he was. But now she must learn to put her marriage behind her and move forward.
Molly Jones' ex-husband Harvey has reappeared in her life after many years, wanting to put right the wrongs of the past before it's too late.
And Will Linton's business has gone bust and his wife has left him to pick up the pieces. Now he needs to gather the strength to start again.
Can all three find the comfort they are looking for in The Teashop on the Corner? And as their hearts are slowly mended by Leni, can they return the favour when she needs in the most?

Thirteen Weddings by Paige Toon (Simon & Schuster, 422 pages) Sometimes you just have to step out of the light to see clearly again...

Bronte never expected to see Alex after their one night together, but she never stopped thinking of him. So when she arrives at work one day to find that Alex is a new colleague, she is secretly thrilled. The only problem is that Alex is now engaged to the girl he was on a break from the night they met.
Determined to move on, Bronte becomes a part-time wedding photographer, alongside her day job. Surrounded by loving couples, tearful bridesmaids, mischievous  pageboys and interfering mother-in-laws, she struggles through wedding after wedding whilst he heart is slowly torn apart.
As Alex's own wedding day draws ever nearer, their chemistry becomes harder to ignore. Bronte must decide whether to fight for the man she loves, or to let him go forever. 

You're The One That I Want by Giovanna Fletcher (Penguin, 400 pages) Maddy, Ben and Robert have been inseparable since they met in the school playground. They've stuck together through thick and thin, feeling safe in the knowledge that they have each other.
So when Ben falls hopelessly in love with Maddy, he decides to keep it quiet for the sake of their friendship. Until Robert swoops in and kisses Maddy- irrevocably fracturing things between them as the kiss turns to love.
But when Robert and Maddy's love turns sour, can Ben continue to say nothing? And can Maddy choose between her two best friends?

Take a Look at Me Now by Miranda Dickinson (Avon, 416 pages) When Nell's on-off boyfriend Aidan calls her into his office, the last thing she expects is to lose her job. Heartbroken and unemployed, she makes a radical decision to blow her redundancy cheque and escape to San Francisco. But is the glamour of the city too good to be true? And can Nell leave her past behind?

A Cottage by the Sea by Carole Matthews (Sphere, 448 pages) Grace had always been best friends with Ella and Flick. The late night chats, shared heartaches and good times have created a bond that has stood the test of time.
When Ella invites them to stay for a week in her cottage in South Wales, Grace jumps at the chance to see her old friends. She also hopes that the change of scenery will help her reconnect with her distant husband.
Then Flick arrives: lovable, bubbly, incorrigible Flick, accompanied by the handsome and charming Noah.
This is going to be one week that will change all of their lives forever...

The Mystery of Mercy Close by Marian Keyes (Penguin, 624 pages) Helen Walsh doesn't believe in fear- it's just a thing invented by man to get all the money and good  jobs- and yet she's sinking . Her work as a private investigator has dried up, her flat has been repossessed and now some old demons have resurfaced.
Not least in the form of her charming but dodgy ex-boyfriend Jay Parker, who shows up with a missing person case/ Money is tight- so tight Helen's had to move back with her elderly parents- and Jay is awash with cash. The missing person is Wayne Diffney, the 'wacky one' from boyband Laddz.
He's vanished from his house in Mercy Close and it's vital that he's found- Laddz have a sell-out comeback gig in five days time.
Things ended messily with Jay. And she's never going back there. Besides she has a new boyfriend now, the very sexy detective Artie Devlin and it's all going well, even though his ex-wife isn't quite 'ex' enough and his teenage son hates her. But the reappearance of Jay is stirring up all kinds of stuff she thought she'd left behind.
Playing by her own rules, Helen is drawn into a dark and glamorous world, where her worst enemy is her own head and where increasingly she feels connected to Wayne, a man she's never even met. 

To The Moon and Back by Jill Mansell (Headline, 416 pages) When Ellie Kendall loses her husband Jamie in an accident she feels her world has come to an end. But life has to go on and eventually she's ready for a new start- at work, that is. She definitely doesn't need a new man, not while she has a certain secret visitor to keep her company...
Entrepreneur Zack McLaren seems to have it all, but the girl he can't stop thinking about won't give him a second glance. Why can't she pay him the kind of attention she lavishes on Elmo, his time share dog?
Having moved  to an exclusive flat in North London, Ellie becomes friendly with neighbour Roo who's harbouring a secret of her own. Between them, can both girls sort out their lives? Guilt is a powerful emotion, but a lot can happen in a year in Primrose Hill...

BOOK REVIEW: Thirteen Weddings by Paige Toon

Sometimes you just have to step out of the light to see clearly again...
Bronte never expected to see Alex after their one night together, but she never stopped thinking of him. So when she arrives at work one day to find that Alex is a new colleague, she is secretly thrilled. The only problem is that Alex is now engaged to the girl he was on a break from the night they met.
Determined to move on, Bronte becomes a part-time wedding photographer, alongside her day job. Surrounded by loving couples, tearful bridesmaids, mischievous  pageboys and interfering mother-in-laws, she struggles through wedding after wedding whilst he heart is slowly torn apart.
As Alex's own wedding day draws ever nearer, their chemistry becomes harder to ignore. Bronte must decide whether to fight for the man she loves, or to let him go forever. 

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Pages: 422

Thirteen Weddings is a brilliant read and my favourite of the Paige Toon books that I have read so far. Sadly, I've not had any weddings to attend this year but after reading this I feel like I've been to so many! I read this book over two days as I just couldn't put it down which I always find with this author's books.
Thirteen Weddings revolves around Bronte, she has a one night stand with Alex when she is visiting the UK from Australia for a friend's wedding. She thinks she won't see Alex again  but she never stops thinking about him. A year and a half later, Bronte finds herself back in the UK for a year long work placement. She cannot believe her eyes when Alex turns up in her office as the new Art Director. Alex who she has not stopped thinking of, Alex who is now engaged to be married in three months time. Bronte tries to keep her distance but she cannot ignore her feelings and neither can Alex. Bronte starts to spend a lot of time with Lachie, a fellow Australian living in the UK. She tries to occupy her spare time by becoming an assistant to a wedding photographer at the weekends. She has vowed never to get married due to her parents miserable relationship but watching several couples declaring their love for each other and making a life time commitment raises some questions in Bronte's mind.
Will Alex really marry his fiance and should Bronte give up her chance of happiness with another man? Can she truly love two men at the same time?
I was completely in love with Alex and Lachie by the end of the book and I was so unsure of who I wanted Bronte to end up with. Paige Toon has created two very appealing and believable male leads, I could see why Bronte loved them both. There were subtle differences in her relationships and this made it very difficult to decide who she was the most suited to.
Bronte's dislike of marriage added an extra element to the story. Her parent's marriage breakdown has greatly affected Bronte and I thought that Paige Toon dealt with this very well; it added real intrigue to the story as we don't find out exactly what happened until the very end.
Thirteen Weddings is the perfect summer read, it is full of love, friendship, passion and weddings! Read it, you won't be disappointed!

Many thanks to Simon & Schuster for sending me a copy of the book to review.

BLOG TOUR: Idea Behind Thirteen Weddings by Paige Toon

I am very excited to be taking part in the blog tour for Paige Toon's latest book, Thirteen Weddings. I adored this book and shall be posting my review later in the week. To whet your appetite though, the lovely Paige Toon herself has shared the idea behind this brilliant book: 

I first got the idea for Thirteen Weddings after attending four weddings in one summer. I watched the various wedding photographers at work and thought, imagine what it would be like to do wedding after wedding. Maybe it feels a little like Groundhog Day, but it must also feel very surreal to be such an important part of two complete strangers’ Best Day Of Their Lives. Then, as it tends to do, my overactive imagination ran away with me and I imagined what it would be like to photograph a groom if you were in love with him.

No one knows better than my readers how much I like writing about characters who pine for people they can’t have. Of course, pining for a soon-to-be-married man seems like one step too far, so there had to be a reason for my heroine to find herself in this awkward position.

Thirteen Weddings sees Bronte meet Alex during the London-based hen night for one of her friends. They talk, they flirt, they end up having a night of incredible passion, and in the morning, Alex is contacted by his ex girlfriend. She claims to have made a mistake in breaking up with him, and as Bronte is heading back to Australia where she lives, so they say a difficult farewell before letting each other go forever.

Or not for forever, as it turns out. Eighteen months later, Bronte finds herself back in London with a job on the picture desk of a magazine (to find out how Bronte in linked to my other books, check out iheart-chicklit.blogspot.com tomorrow). Alex is her co-worker, and at first, things are awkward. Then Bronte gets a one-off gig helping out a wedding photographer called Rachel, and Alex and Bronte bond over tea and their mutual affection for photography.

On Bronte’s recommendation, Alex lines up Rachel to do his wedding, but then Rachel enlists Bronte’s help again, and again, until suddenly she finds herself working as a part-time wedding photographer. As Alex’s wedding draws ever nearer, it’s clear that Bronte’s feelings for him – which she tries to control – are not unrequited.

I had to write about a number of weddings for Thirteen Weddings, but the fated thirteenth was based on my own. Mainly because I could picture it so clearly. I got married in St Paul’s Church in Covent Garden and we could hear the sound of buskers in the plaza behind the church. The memory of the church is so clear, that I can easily imagine Bronte standing at the back with her camera, waiting for Alex to come in – or not come in. I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t read it.

I also had an enormous amount of help from a couple of real wedding photographers, one of whom won a charity bid to win her name in my next book – she had no idea it was about a wedding photographer (read about this in loveofagoodbook.wordpress.com on 6 August). But what really warmed the cockles of my heart was the feedback I got from my readers when I asked for them to share their wedding stories. I included some in the book, like Sarah Abbott’s “fireman” moment. A couple were too shocking to print – one father-in-law’s awful speech made my jaw hit the floor! But all of the stories had me gripped. I hope Thirteen Weddings grips my readers, too.

A note from Paige: Sign up to my book club, ‘The Hidden Paige’, at www.paigetoon.com for free short stories, competitions and the chance to find out more about me and my characters and what we’re all up to.

Follow me on Twitter @PaigeToonAuthor or visit me at www.Facebook.com/PaigeToonAuthor

Many thanks to Paige Toon for taking the time to take part in the tour and also to Dawn at Simon & Schuster for organising it. Please check out the tour banner at the top of my page to see where this blog tour is going next! 

Book Review: Pictures of Lily by Paige Toon

Ten years ago when Lily was just sixteen, she fell in love with someone she really shouldn't have fallen in love with. Now, living in Sydney and engaged to another man, she can't forget the one that got away. Then her past comes back to haunt her, and she has to make a decision that will break her heart- and the heart of at least one of the men who love her. 

Pictures of Lily is the first Paige Toon book that I have read and I think they should come with a warning on the front explaining that you will not be able to put it down.
Richard has just proposed to Lily, they have been together for several years but Richard has no idea that Lily's heart has belonged to another man since she was 15 years old. Lily has never been able to forget Ben who was much older than her when she fell in love with him during her first summer in Australia. Ben left for England though and even though Lily has tried to move on with her life, Ben has been in her thoughts every single day. So when Ben arrives back in Australia, she has a heartbreaking decision to make, what do you do when you love two men?
The cover of this book is gorgeous but I don't think think it gives any hint of the emotional roller coaster that takes place in this book. Paige Toon has written such a good story,I just wanted to give Lily a big hug when she has to decide between Ben and Richard. 
I'm not sure if I would describe this book as chick-lit as I don't think it is necessarily light-hearted enough to be described as that. What I do know is that I have found another great author in Paige Toon who's other books I shall be catching up with as soon as possible.