BOOK REVIEW: The Two Of Us by Andy Jones

This is not a love story.
It is a story about falling in love...
and what happens next...
Fisher and Ivy have been an item for a whole nineteen days. And they just know they are meant to be together. The fact that they know little else about each other is a minor detail. Over the course of twelve months, in which their lives will change forever, Fisher and Ivy discover that falling in love is one thing but staying there is an entirely different story. 

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Pages: 451

I do not read a lot of books by male authors so I wasn't sure what to expect from The Two of Us by Andy Jones but I really did think it was good.
The whole book is told from Fisher's perspective and I liked him straight away. His heart is in the right place and he just wants to do the best for those he loves. What's not to like?
I liked Ivy in the main but even by the end of the
book I didn't necessarily feel as though I knew her that well. There were a few points where she seemed quite selfish but this could just be because we don't get her side of the story. The two of them together though are brilliant and extremely realistic. Their relationship, for one reason or another becomes very serious very quickly and I liked how Andy Jones demonstrated that by showing them go through a very intense set of emotions and feelings.
There were some chapters of the book that I found a little slow but the ending more than made up for these. The last few chapters of this book were like a master class in how it should be done. There were so many ups and downs packed in and so much emotion. I felt that Andy Jones dealt with it all beautifully.
I used to read a lot more by male authors (Tony Parsons and Mike Gayle in particular) but then I found it really hard to find a male author who I could still identify with. I think I may have found him again in Andy Jones, I hope this author goes on to write more books as he clearly has more to offer.

Many thanks to Clare at Simon and Schuster for sending me a copy of the book to review, it is out now! 

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: Where Love Lies by Julie Cohen

Lately, Felicity just can't shake the shadow of uncertainty that has pervaded her life. Her husband Quinn is the kindest person she knows and loves her peculiarities more than Felicity feels she deserves, But suddenly it's as if she doesn't quite belong.
Then Felicity experiences something extraordinary: a scent of perfume in the air that evokes memories and feelings that have been settled deep within her for a long time, untouched and undisturbed. As it happens again and then again, the memories of a man Felicity hasn't been seen for ten years akso flutter to the surface, And so do the feelings of being deeply, exquisitely in love, or is it something else?

Publisher: Transworld

Pages: 368 pages

Where Love Lies is an excellent read, Julie Cohen has written a dark and interesting drama. Felicity is married to Quinn, a newspaper editor, she works from home as a childrens author and they live in a picturesque cottage in a tiny village. Everything is perfect but Felicity has changed and she has begun looking at life very differently. She has always been a little different, one of the many things that Quinn loves about her but her behaviour has become a little concerning. Felicity keeps experiencing episodes where she can smell the scent of Frangipani and this in turn sets off memories of a past relationship with her first love. At the end of these episodes Felicity is left feeling euphoric with love but not with her husband. She leaves the marital home to take some time to explore these feelings; she knows she is hurting Quinn but she also feels like he deserves so much more than her. What is causing these episodes and can she ignore them for the sake of her loving husband?
It's hard to review this book without giving the plot away and I don't want to as it's such a good one. Julie Cohen throws in some particularly good plot twists though, one at the end literally made me gasp out loud.
Felicity is a very complex character, I was still undecided by the end of the book as to whether I liked her or not. She has no control over the episodes she is having but I didn't necessarily agree with the way she dealt with it. I think this was partly because I felt quite protective of Quinn who was an extremely likable character. I felt as though he was constantly treading a thin line between protecting Felicity and giving her room to be herself.
Where Love Lies is an emotional read, you can really feel the turmoil that Felicity is in and her confusion as to why. Feelings are a huge part of the book, Julie Cohen explores what they mean and how they affect us, the ones we should and shouldn't have plus the ones we miss having.
Where Love Lies is a hard hitting drama with an excellent plot, Julie Cohen knows how to shock and enthrall her readers from the beginning to the end.

Many thanks to Transworld for sending me a review copy.