Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Title: Written in the Stars by Ali Harris
Published by: Simon & Schuster UK
Price/Availability: RRP £7.99
Available on Amazon in Paperback for £3.85 & Kindle for £3.32
Rating: 5/5
THE BLURB
One decision + two different paths = how many happy endings?
Have you ever wondered 'What if…?' What if you'd taken that other job, gone on a date with that sweet guy, moved to a different city? Would an alternative life path have led to a happier ending?
Now imagine if you could have taken both paths…
When Bea Bishop slips while walking down the aisle on her wedding day, she is momentarily knocked unconscious. And in a flash, her world splits and two separate parallel lives take her on two very different journeys. In one, Bea flees back down the aisle and out of the church. In the other, she glides blissfully towards Adam, her intended.
Each path will take her on a very different journey. And each will see her life change for better and for worse. But which story will lead to her happy-ever-after?
MY OPINION
Moments ago, I was crying... full girly tears of sheer joy and happiness as I witnessed a truly remarkable ending to a book with a hefty 450 pages in. Written in the Stars, is by largely one of the best ever books I've ever read... in my LIFE! For a book to bring tears to my eyes and a sense of happiness for the characters... well it is a masterpiece!
Written in the Stars is very unique in the way it is written. I for one have never read a book that is put together by the author right down to the most intricate detail in the way that Ali Harris has. The style of telling two different stories that could have been Bea Bishop's life path at the same time is one that separates Ali's book from so many of the others out there. It really is a book for every woman who has ever wondered..."what if?...". I for one know that I have wondered 'What if?' on more than one occasion, and through this book, as a reader you can't help but ponder on your very own 'what if?' moments.
Throughout the book, Bea is guided by her diary gifted to her by her Father on her 7th birthday - the day before he left, and just like the seasonal year, we see through Bea's eyes that life really is cyclical and turns with the seasons. We begin the book with scenes of the past that shows what has led up to one of the key moments in her life...her wedding day. Walking down the aisle, Bea slips after seeing someone in the congregation that she wasn't expecting to see, and suddenly floods of memories past hit her like a stormy sea of waves that knock her unconscious. When she comes around the reader is shown two very different ways in which her life could play out. To get married to Adam or to not get married to Adam? That really was the question that began Bea's dramatic and heart-warming journey to finding the person that she has always longed for... even if it's not who she quite expected it to be in the start.
Love, guilt, career choices and dreams of gardening from the past come flooding back - in both of her lives - and it is how she deals with them that sees the reader go on a trip of a lifetime with Bea where she finally discovers what the key to her life is ... to do what makes her happy.
I particularly love the ending as we see her two worlds collide and we find Bea right where she needs to be. Ali, has most definitely done book bloggers, faithful readers, fellow facebookers & Tweeters, not to mention the book world an immense service in the writing of this book. She should be immensely proud!
Having started the book way back in April and only recently picking it back up to continue reading (due to personal circumstances), I am only sorry that I didn't finish it sooner! However if I have learnt anything from Bea Bishop (lead character), it is that I would always have ended up here... wiping tears from my eyes, and being fully in love with the entire story.
There is a quote from one of her Father's diary entries to her that really stood out to me;
Each path we choose, every decision we make may one day take us back to the very same one we turned away from.
It's a tender yet strong message for everyone I feel, not just Bea, and one that we can all try to live up to. As someone who can relate to Bea's character in that she made a decision once upon a time to live a different life to what she had always wanted, I can attest to the fact that just like Bea, 7 years later, you may ... like me, find yourself coming full circle where you are almost being given a second chance of the life you not only always wanted because it is what makes you happy, but that sometimes, it just so happens to be 'Written in the Stars'.
ABOUT ALI HARRIS
You can connect with her:
Twitter: @AliHarrisWriter
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AliHarrisWriter
Title: OMG Baby by Emma Garcia
Published by: Hodder on 5th June 2014 (Available for Pre-Order Now!)
Price: £7.99 (Amazon Links Here) also available in Kindle format
THE BLURB:
This ISN'T a book about babies. It's not about sleepless nights, nappies or nurseries. It IS about two people, one unexpected pregnancy and a question . . .
Viv and Max were best friends for years, then they were lovers, then it all went wrong.
Now finally they are to be reunited. Viv feels sick. Not just with nerves at seeing Max again, but because there's a small chance she might . . . quite possibly . . . most definitely . . . be pregnant.
It's thrilling. But also terrifying. Most of the time they can hardly look after themselves, let alone a baby.
And then Viv's estranged mother reappears on the scene and they all end up sharing a bedsit . . . and hell breaks loose.
HOW ON EARTH ARE THEY GOING TO COPE?
MY OPINION:
To say that this book was eagerly awaited is an absolute understatement. Following on from NEVER GOOGLE HEARTBREAK, OMG Baby reconnects us with Viv and Max in all their fabulously sarcastic glory. The chemistry between these two characters is not only believable but so captivating. Viv and Max have the makings of a married couple but will they ever get that far?
The arrival of Viv's mother (and her drama) certainly send ripples through their lives and as a reader, you can't help but feel torn between both Viv and Max as they share the effects of this new arrival in their lives - and I'm not talking about the 'maybe baby'. You can see both sides to the situation, and you sympathise with both characters at the same time, yet find yourself banging your head against the paperback cover as you want to literally yell at them and state the obvious. (This is what a good book does to you!)
Emma Garcia, has approached a subject that many people face in their lives - estranged, selfish parents who seem to just not be cut out for parenthood, and she has spun the effects of having such a parent in your life. Viv shares her intimate fears and dreams as both a 7 year old girl watching her mother leave, and also as a 30 year old woman eager to have her mum in her life.
As well as facing the 'maybe baby' situation in their lives, they also are trying to build up their own businesses: Viv's Transition Crackers & Max's art gallery showcases, along with a friend who is eager to get pregnant and then unfortunately faces sadness, and with Viv's hormones all over the place, it's only natural that a huge argument will ensue along with separation and possible infidelity - is it just hormones again?
Emma keeps the reader entertained throughout the entire 423 page book with each scene a page turner. As with all romantic fairytales, the course of true love never does run smooth, and happy endings are really sometimes only just the beginning....
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