I’m listening to A Summer Fling by Milly Johnson, narrated by Colleen Prendergast on my Audible app. Try Audible and get it here: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd?asin=1398507849&source_code=ASSORAP0511160006&share_location=rate_review
Happy reading!
They dubbed this series of books the next Harry Potter. I wouldn’t go that far. Yes they’re both technically orphans who have magical powers and neither find out about the magical world until they are older but that’s were the similarities end.
I enjoyed the book but I feel that the story took a long time to get going and just as you get into it the book ends. It’s not the sort of story that’s tied up neatly by the end as it practically ends on a cliff hanger. Perhaps that’s smart writing on the authors part to entice you to read the next one. Either way it worked and I have now started the second book to find out what happened.
This is an enjoyable story filled with magic, demons and bad guys as you would expect. However, as I have said don’t expect this book to be anything like the Harry Potter books because it’s not.
I would rate this book an optimistic 4/5
XO – Mel
What an amazing book!! I absolutely loved this story! This is the first book I’ve read from Adele Parks and it is safe to say that I would not hesitate to pick up another one straight away! A brilliant story of lottery wins, deceit, greed, deception, abduction, infidelity and so much more!
It really makes you wonder if you won the lottery how you would handle the wealth.
Personally if I was in Lexi’s and married to Jake I would tear him a new one! All the way through this book he has anointed and enraged me!
The story is very well structured with different characters telling their own version of events in their own words!
I loved the twist right at the very end but I was also very disappointed to find the Lexi was not the person she was made out to be the whole way through.
Still loved it even if it didn’t end how I wanted it to!
Highly recommended!
I definitely give this read a 5 star review!
I hope you’ve all had a great weekend and here’s wishing you a great week ahead.
I have just finished reading Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella. It’s the story of a thirty something woman called Lottie who’s track record with love is less than impressive.
With every break up follows a bad decision and the latest is no different.
She meets Ben who in my opinion is a bit of a sleaze ball and is someone she had a holiday romance with years ago and in a whirl wind kind of situation they decide to get married but keep the sex for the honeymoon.
This leads to the whole book being about how much he wants it and how much she keeps telling him to wait and starts to become a big of a bore in my opinion.
In the end her ex tracks her down on her honeymoon accompanied by her meddling sister and Bens best friend / work colleague and all is right with the world again!
I would give this book 
It’s a good read but not one I would pick up again in a hurry!
My Sweet Revenge by Jane Fallon is such an amazing story. I was hooked from the word go! As with a few of the books by Jane, the story is set around the world of television. Paula is a house wife with a part time job in a local bakery. Her husband, Robert, is one of the starts in a well known soap opera. She loves her life and despite having put her career goals on the back burner since the arrival of their daughter so is more than happy with her life. She has a lovely flat in a nice part of London, a loving husband who works hard for his family and a bright and beautiful teenage daughter.
Since the time that Paula and Robert first met in college she has let herself go a little bit and working in a bakery certainly didn’t help with that. Despite this all seems well in their marriage and they are as happy as they ever have been. That is until a suspicious text message from a younger, thinner, pretty female co-worker comes through on Roberts phone while it is not under his guard. This immediately raises Paula’s suspicions that the may be more to their happy life than meets the eye.
She decides that she will not confront Robert with this new found knowledge and make sure that she has the facts before he is even aware than she knows anything. She is a girl after my own heart. Once its confirmed she puts a plan into motion to get back in shape, make more of an effort with her general appearance, show more interest in Robert in general and what he wants to do and win his heart back.
at this point you may be thinking what a fool. But, there is a dish of revenge set to cool in preparation to be served.
I love how Jane Fallon has structured this book. The first half is entirely from Paula’s perspective. Her thought, experiences and concerns. Half way through (Part 2) we get to hear the same story but from the perspective of the Mistress which then alternates 
between what is happening on Paula’s end of this and then from the side of the Mistress. I don’t name the Mistress in this review as I don’t want to spoil the story for anyone who has not yet read it. I was so on the fence for most of it as to who Robert was having the affair with it was brilliant. Because of this Is it, isn’t it back and forth I finished the whole book in about 3 days flat. Well obviously I had to squeeze some work time into this too, but I pretty much didn’t put this book down.
for any one who likes the work by Lucy Diamond or Sophie Kinsella this is a must read.
I gave this book 5/5 on Goodreads
I hope that you enjoyed my review and welcome any feedback.
The Secrets of Happiness is a petty apt name for this book. Its based on the strained relationship between two step sisters Becca and Rachel. Rachel’s father had passed away a few years back and this is when she decided to cut all ties with her step mother and sister. Rachel never really got on with either of them even while her father was alive. She believed that they were imposing on her happy life with her father. Her mother had passed away many years ago when Rachel was only a toddler but she nurses fond memories of her.
Newly single and unemployed, thanks to her jealous, possessive, violent ex-husband; Rachel is trying her hand at starting her own personal training business. All is going well until she takes a trip to Manchester which lands her in the hospital with a broken jaw and some serious memory loss making it impossible for her to contact home.
Becca is called by Rachel’s eldest daughter and asked if she can go to their home to hold down the fort until they can find out where their mother is. As the relationship between Becca and Rachel is not the best at this time Becca is reluctant but goes anyway. Becca, being carefree and a bit of a tear away when she was younger is overwhelmed when given the responsibility of looking after 2 children and a teenager.
Once Rachel is finally home Becca is a dab hand at running the house hold. As much as Rachel doesn’t want her there she realises fast that her injuries make it difficult for her to carry out even the simplest of tasks and she reluctantly asks Becca to stay.
Becca is of a plump build, nothing like slim, in shape, health nut Rachel and find her self out of her comfort zone when she is asked to train Rachel’s new clients. Despite the fact that Becca has absolutely no clue as to what she is doing she slowly find herself getting in shape and starting to enjoy the sessions she is doing for Rachel, even if some of them are not what Rachel has scheduled.
After a confrontation with her ex and with Becca to back her up, Rachel really sees that she has had the wrong impression of her step sister all this time. Rachel then decides to help Becca, along with Becca’s unexpected love interest, get herself on her feet and go into business for herself.
The end of this book gave me a warm fussy feeling. After all the animosity between the two sisters they finally develop the type of relationship that each of them has always wanted.
I gave this book 5/5 on Goodreads
This is a feel good story and I would recommend it to anyone who likes to work of Jane Fallon also.
I hope that you enjoyed my review and welcome any feedback.
So another month over and done with. All in all it has been a pretty good one. During the last month I have had some ups and downs.
I have had another birthday which now puts me at the grand old age of 29! Scary right?! This was the first birthday without my Gramps here which was real hard. Opening my card signed just from my Nan, not having the phone call with his soft cheery voice to sing happy birthday to me it all got the better of me but I just keep thinking ‘thank god he is no longer in pain!’.
Over the last couple of months I have had some serious health issues which could have totally altered the course of my future, or at least where I thought my future was heading, and yesterday I got some great news from the hospital confirming that the result have come back to say what I had hoped they would and they don’t need to see me again. I have never felt such relief like I did when I read that letter! However, having this scare has really made me put things into perspective. It made me realise all the things that I have been missing out on which I intend to change!! Holidays being the first. I want to see more sights, both home and away. It got me thinking that if that was the end I was not happy with what I have achieved. It is now time to set things right!
As a result of the realisation of my mortality I have decided to put everything I have into revamping and rebranding my online store. Keeping it inline with this blog I decided to make it into a brand and I have started to put some of the wall art ideas I have had over the last year or so onto the drawing board. I have actually started to list some new items which have taken off quite well. below are a few of the new items I have listed.
you can find the rest of my items on my Made by Mel tab in the main menu. I am determined to make this a success and I plan on putting my all into it.
I have been trying lately to get back into my crafts and I have made quite a promising start I think. I have been trying my hand to candle printing to see if it was something think I would like as I am in to my candles big time. Dan thinks I secretly own shares in a candle company because of the amount I have! Here’s a sneak peak at my first attempts.
Birthdays:
1
New shop listings:
Books read: 1
Meet Me at Beachcomber Bay (reviewed)
Book reading: 2
Secrets of Happiness by Lucy Diamond
A Year of Being Single by Fiona Collins
That seems to be everything I can think that has happened within the last month and as I said all in all its been a good month. I will be trying to keep up to date on everyone else’s monthly round ups as I love to know what everyone has been getting up to. How has your last month been? Let me know… Speak to you all soon.
As always, I hope you have enjoyed my review and I look forward to your feedback.
I have recently finished reading ‘Strictly Between Us’ by Jane Fallon. This is the first book I have read by this author so I wasn’t quite sure what I was letting myself in for.
As
always this book was chosen for the synopsis on the back cover which made promises of age old friendships, married life, and scandal in the work place! This book delivered all this and more.
Initially, it took me a little while to get into this story. I pretty much had to force myself to keep picking the book back up. I think that this is more due to the place my head was at when I started reading this rather than the actual lack of interest in the actual book.
After about a month or so break I found myself going back to this book with a fresh mind which I am glad I did. This time I really got into the story.
I love that the book starts out telling the story from Tamsin’s perspective going through her thoughts and experiences then later on there is a twist (which is really did not see coming) and the point of view of the guilty party in this story is portrayed. I thought that this was a very clever way to lay this story out as you get to see the thought processes of both sides which was very insightful.
I gave this book a 4/5 star rating on Goodreads.
I hope you enjoyed my review and I look forward to your comments.
I have just finished reading ‘Fool Me Once’ by Harlen Coben. This is the first book I have read by this author and I must admit it really exceeded my expectations.
The initial reason for chosing this book over any of the others that were calling to me from the shelves was the snippet on the back cover (see the bottom of this post). I tend to choose a book the same way that I would choose a movie. I like to read the blurb on the back to see if it is something that I think i could get into. My reasoning is that if I would like to watch it as a film then I would be able to get into it as a book.
There is nothing I hate more in the world than a book that you begin to read but you know in your heart that you are seeing the words but nothing is sinking in. This book is the exact opposite. I am not usually one for thrillers but this is one of those reads that you just can’t put down.
The book started by jumping straight into the action of the murder of Maya’s Husband, Joe. Maya is ex-millitary and did not leave under honorable circumstances, but rest assured she is still a good guy. The memories of her time in the airforce will forever haunt her. She lays her husband to rest, which for any spouse I can only imagine is heartbreaking, but she does it with such class and composure. Maya has always been around death as her profession would imply and with the recent murder of her sister, Claire, still fresh in her mind, she has had more than her fill over the last few months.
Her husband, Joe, was one of four siblings of the Burkett family who have also been touched by tragedy in the past when his younger brother, Andrew, died whilst partying on a yacht with friends. The Burkett’s were a wealthy family so they did not want for anything, but where there is money there is sure to be scandal. This comes in the form of a connection between the murder of Maya’s sister and her husband. Maya takes it upon herself to investigate and get to the bottom of what has happened to connect these two deaths.
The more Maya digs to unearth the truth, the more secrets are revealed. She must be careful who she can trust if she is to ever have any hope of finding out who killed her sister and how it can be linked to the death of her husband!
Great storyline, I loved the characters and their background stories. Throughout this book I found myself guessing who the murderer could be. I had an incline as to how it would end but there was always something that followed to dismiss that feeling and throw you right back off track. I was hooked from beginning to end and would rate this book 9/10.
xo Mello
xomello.com - Lifestyle Blog 