BOOK REVIEW: Love Notes for Freddie by Eva Rice

Marnie Fitzpatrick is a reclusive sixth-former from Hertfordshire with a dysfunctional family, a penchant for Pythagoras' Theorem and an addiction to doughnuts and gin. Julie Crewe is a disillusioned maths teacher who lives vicariously through the girls she teaches, yet who once danced barefoot through Central Park with a man called Jo she has never been able to forget.
This is the story of what happened in the summer of 1969, when the sun burned down on the Shredded Wheat factory and a boy called Freddie Friday danced to the records he had stolen. This is about first love, and last love, and all the strange stuff inbetween. This is what happens when three people are bound together by something that can't be calculated or explained by an equation.
This is what happened when they saw the open door.

Publisher: Heron Books

Pages: 336

I was a huge fan of Eva Rice's book The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets  but sadly I have not read her other books so I was really pleased to be offered the opportunity to review her latest novel, Love Notes for Freddie. 
The book had two narrators, Marnie Fitzpatrick and Julie Crewe. Marnie is in the sixth form of a prestigious girls school in Hertfordshire. She is excellent at maths and when celebrating an amazing exam result she does something completely out of character which leads to her being expelled and the course of her life altered forever.
Julie Crewe is Marnie's maths teacher; teaching was not her first choice of career, she wanted to dance more than anything. This has led her to live her life through the girls she teaches so she is devastated when Marnie acts so foolishly. She wants Marnie to follow her dreams and fulfill her potential so she continues to encourage her. It is Marnie who introduces Miss Crewe to Freddie; he works at the Shredded Wheat factory but his true love is dancing. He only does this in secret though to stolen records. Both of these women love Freddie for different reasons but he becomes their main connection. All three of them have unfulfilled dreams, how can they help each other get what they really want?
Eva Rice has written a complete gem of a book in Love Notes for Freddie. Rice's writing has a magical quality to it; she can be writing about quite mundane, everyday things but the language she chooses raises it up and gives it an almost dreamlike quality.
I took to all three main characters and having the two different narrators made it a more interesting read. Eva Rice explores different aspects of love and life in this book and it left me with a lot to think about. Love Notes for Freddie reminded me how good an author Eva Rice is and I won't be missing her books in the future.

Many thanks to Quercus Books for sending me a copy to review. 

Book Review: Love at First Flight by Tess Woods

Looking back at it now, I can see it was instant.
The second we locked eyes. Boom. Just like that.
The Me I had spent a lifetime perfecting began its disintegration from that moment. And despite the carnage it brought to all our lives, I still don't regret it.
What would you risk to be with the love of your life? And what if your soul mate is the one who will destroy you?
Mel is living the dream. She's a successful GP, married to a charming anaesthetist and raising a beautiful family in their plush home in Perth. But when she boards a flight to Melbourne, she meets Matt and her picture-perfect Stepford life unravels as she falls in love for the first time ever.
What begins as a flirty conversation between strangers quickly develops into a hot and obsessive affair with disastrous consequences neither Mel nor Matt could have seen coming. Mel's dream life turns into her worst nightmare. 

Publisher: Aus Impulse

Pages: 283

Tess Woods has written a very entertaining, sexy and thought-provoking debut in Love at First Flight. Mel is a happily married mother of two, working part-time as a GP. She is married to a very successful doctor and life couldn't be more perfect. That is until she meets Matt on board a flight to a weekend away with her best friend. They have an inst
ant connection and this leads her to question how happy she really is. When did her husband last pay her a compliment? When did they last have amazing sex? Matt is also taken, engaged and planning his wedding but he feels like his world has been turned upside down when he meets Mel, he can't get her out of his head.
It's pretty obvious form the blurb that Matt and Mel go on to have an affair. This is not a hearts and flowers ending though; the consequences of their actions are devastating. This, I wasn't expecting; when I started the book, I thought it might be a little predictable and I would be reading about them skipping off into the sunshine. Instead Tess Woods presents a very honest account of how individuals and families are affected by infidelity. I felt that she dealt with the situation very well, she doesn't set out wanting you to love her characters etc, she is just showing you how it is.
If I have one criticism of this book then it would be the front cover. In my opinion it looks a little whimsical which is why I was taken aback by the serious undertones in the book. You shouldn't judge a book by its cover but I think some may overlook this book as being a girlie, romantic read when in reality it is so much more.
Tess Woods is a new author to look out for and Love at First Flight is only £1.99 on Kindle at the moment so give her a go!

I read this book via NetGalley

Book Review: Three Amazing Things About You by Jill Mansell

Hallie has a secret. She's in love. He's perfect for her in every way, but he's seriously out of bounds. And her friends aren't going to help her because what they do know is that Hallie doesn't have long to live. Time is running out.
Flo has a dilemaa, She really likes Zander. But his scary sister won't be even faintly amused if she thinks Zander and Flo are becoming frriends- let alone anything more.
Tasha has a problem. Her new boyfriend is the adventurous type and she's afraid one of his adventures will go badly wrong.
Three Amazing Things About You begins as Hallie goes on a journey. A donor has been found and she's about to be given new lungs. But whose?

Publisher: Headline Review

Pages: 382

Publication Date: TODAY! 

Three Amazing Things About You is Jill Mansell's latest fantastic book. I read it in just over a day and it reminded me how much I enjoy this author's writing.
Hallie is the central character, she is only 26 but she has cystic fibrosis so she is very aware that her time is limited. She has very strong feelings for Luke but she can't act upon them as while Luke is a good friend he is also her GP. Hallie keeps her feelings a secret but how will she take it if he meets someone else?
Flo is another lovely character and she becomes more and more important as the book develops. Her attraction to Zander is a shock to her but she completely underestimated his nightmare sister who will do everything she can to wreck their happiness.
Tasha meets Rory in a very entertaining way but she can't believe how quickly she falls in love. He's a complete adrenalin junkie and his friends question whether she is too sedate for him. When their relationship is put under a huge pressure, Tash shows to everyone just how much she loves Rory and will do all she can to be by his side.
These separate characters come in to each other's lives at several points without interacting; they may just be in the same place or mention a shared acquaintance. I think this really helped explore the idea of fate, how much of our destiny do we actually control?
I think that one of the things Jill Mansell does best is the interaction between her characters. Her dialogue is effortless which makes them more believable.
Cystic fibrosis is a big issue to approach and I felt that it was handled really well. I know somebody who has cystic fibrosis and I really did feel that it was clear to see that Jill Mansell had done her research. I was very impressed with how this book will raise awareness about cystic fibrosis and organ donation.
Three Amazing Things About You had me in tears at the end. It is an excellent book and I would highly recommend it.

Many thanks to NetGalley for a review copy of this book. 

BOOK REVIEW: The Woman Who Stole My Life by Marian Keyes

One day, sitting in traffic, married Dublin mum Stella Sweeny attempts a good deed. The resulting car crash changes her life.
For she meets a man who wants her telephone number (for the insurance, it turns out). That's okay she doesn't really like him much anyway (his Range Rover totally banjaxed her car).
But in this meeting is born the seed of something which will take Stella thousands of miles from her old life, turning an ordinary woman into a superstar, and, along the way, wrenching her whole family apart.
Is this all because of one ill-advised act of goodwill? Was meeting Mr Range Rover destiny or karma? Should she be grateful or hopping mad?
For the first time real, honest-to-goodness happiness is just within her reach. But is Stella Sweeny, Dublin housewife ready to grasp it?

Publisher: Michael Joseph

Pages: 544

Publication Date: 6th November

Blimey a lot of people are talking about this book, I was a little frightened to start it. I am a massive fan of Marian Keyes so I was shocked to see a fair amount of negativity surrounding this book in the book blogging world. However, the majority of it seemed to be in the formatting of the proof. It was a little messy and I could see why people got annoyed but I didn't think it was the worst proof copy I have ever read. The formatting paled into insignificance for me though as overall I thought that this book was tremendous.
The main reason I love Marian Keyes is that she writes about real issues, she doesn't sugar-coat and she shows that not every story has to have a happy ending. It doesn't have to have an awful ending just to shock etc but it can have a realistic finale where the main character doesn't get everything they want.
Stella Sweeny is a great character she she is pretty ordinary and then two extraordinary things happen to her; she gets extremely ill but then her illness somehow turns her into a best-selling author travelling the US on several book tours. We meet Stella after all this though when she's down on her luck and back in Dublin. The book then shows exactly how she's got to that point.
A large portion of the first part of the book involves Stella being in hospital and I thought that this was portrayed very well. Marian Keyes showed everything from the sheer terror of being so ill, the boredom of being stuck in hospital and the consequences for the family unit when one person has a debilitating illness.
Stella has a love interest in the book but I don't want to spoil the plot by giving too much away. But I will say that I very much developed a crush on this character as the book progressed and I felt myself getting angry with Stella when she did something that could jeopardise their relationship.
The Woman Who Stole My Life, in my opinion, is a fantastic book. A lot of reviews have said that it is very different to Marian's other books but I can't agree. I felt that it was distinctively Marian Keyes; not in a boring and predictable way but in such a way that you know you are in the safe hands of an excellent author. The book is dark in places but it is realistic and this is balanced out with brilliant humour and wit.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, don't let the negativity about the formatting put you off as it is just the proof copy and you would be a fool to miss out on the finished product.

Many thanks to Michael Joseph for letting me review this book via Net Galley. 

BOOK REVIEW: Bellman and Black by Diane Setterfield

As a boy, William Bellman commits one small cruel act that appears to have unforeseen and terrible consequences. The killing of a rook with his catapult is soon forgotten amidst the riot of boyhood games. And by the time he is grown, with a wife and children of his own, he seems indeed to be a man blessed by fortune. Until tragedy strikes, and the stranger in black comes, and William Bellman starts to wonder if all his happiness is about to be eclipsed. Desperate to save the one precious thing he has left, he enters into a bargain. A rather strange bargain, with an even stranger partner, to found a decidedly macabre business.
And Bellman and Black is born...

Publisher: Orion

Publication Date: 25th September

I was a huge fan of Diane Setterfield's first book, The Thirteenth Tale so I was extremely excited to see that she had written a new one. Bellman and Black is a fascinating read; it is dark and mysterious, leaving you feel quite unsettled but in a good way.
William Bellman is the central character and at the beginning of the book he is just a boy. A boy who kills a rook with his catapult, showing off to his friends. This one small act has consequences when he becomes an adult. The folklore surrounding rooks is a big part of the book; these birds remember everything and can foresee death and tragedy. The details of the folklore meant that I didn't question this aspect of the book at all. I just felt that William Bellman was going to be punished for taking the rook's life, even though he had no idea that his actions would have any kind of consequences.
In the first part of the book we see that William Bellman is a good man and particularly hard working. He goes from being an apprentice at his uncle's mill to running the whole business. He has a loving wife and several beautiful children. The second part of the book sees the downturn of Bellman's life; those close to him start dying and only his daughter is left. He makes a deal with the mysterious Mr Black to save her. Mr Black has been appearing at the funerals of all those Bellman has lost; Bellman has no idea who he is or where he has come from but he does know that if he does as Black says then his daughter will survive. So Bellman sets up Bellman and Black, a mourning emporium. He sells nearly everything to do with death, he is effectively profiting from other people's losses. Bellman is so relieved that his daughter has been spared but he begins to question who exactly Mr Black is and why has nobody else seen him?
Bellman and Black is described as a ghost story and it does have that Victorian/gothic feel to it. However, I think it would be better described as a mystery as this is not a tale about things that go bump in the night.
Diane Setterfield's writing is extraordinary, I felt like she drew me into the story from the very first page and then weaved a wonderful fictional world around me. As I said, I felt that the idea of the rooks was entirely believable and I couldn't stop reading as I wanted to know what would become of William Bellman. He is such a good character and I completely loved the idea of a mourning emporium, it was the perfect fit for the Victorian period.
Bellman and Black is an excellent read that showcases Diane Setterfield's many talents for storytelling.

Many thanks to Orion for allowing me to read a review copy via Netgalley.