Showing posts with label Hodder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hodder. Show all posts
Title | The Cat of Yule Cottage
Author | Lili Hayward
Publisher | Hodder
Pages | 208 Pages
Purchase | Amazon
A magical tale of Christmas and cats, perfect for everyone who loves A Street Cat Named Bob and Alfie the Doorstep Cat.
It's nearly Christmas, and Jessamine Pike needs a serious life overhaul.
Jess moves into Enysyule, a centuries-old cottage in Cornwall, and begins the process of renovating the rundown house by day and finishing her novel by night, planning to have both finished in time for the holidays. She's got good company: a beautiful, arrogant tomcat stalks around like he owns the place, and seems very skeptical of Jess' tenancy.
But there's magic in the air... Local legends tell of a spirit that inhabits the area, and an ancient standing stone that keeps watch over the valley. As Christmas comes closer and closer, Jess uncovers treasures from Enysyule's past, and becomes involved in a fight for its future.
For Jess has stumbled into a story that's been going on for five hundred years. A story about land, love, friendship, the Yuletide... and one remarkable cat.
Guest Post
Dear Reader,
Today I have something rather wonderful for you to kick off my December posts and festivities here at A Page of Fictional Love. I am rather fond of books, crochet and cats as many of you will know of my beautiful fur baby; Magick, which is why this post is so extra special for me today.
In celebration of the publication of; The Cat of Yule COttage (the title is simply so dreamy!), I am handing over my blog to author Lili Hayward for the day as she shares with you her rather fun post 'Cats vs. Dogs'. It brought smiles and giggles to my face as I read it, and I hope it does for you too. Enjoy!
Today I have something rather wonderful for you to kick off my December posts and festivities here at A Page of Fictional Love. I am rather fond of books, crochet and cats as many of you will know of my beautiful fur baby; Magick, which is why this post is so extra special for me today.
In celebration of the publication of; The Cat of Yule COttage (the title is simply so dreamy!), I am handing over my blog to author Lili Hayward for the day as she shares with you her rather fun post 'Cats vs. Dogs'. It brought smiles and giggles to my face as I read it, and I hope it does for you too. Enjoy!
Cats vs. Dogs
Lili Hayward
Dogs are nice and all that. They have funny faces and are
sometimes useful and good for long walks. But for me, there’s no contest. I am
a fully paid up lifetime member of the Cat Club. Here are six reasons why(and a
liberal smattering of YouTube links):
1. Cats are keen on scientific
education
They regularly offer free anatomy lessons to their owners; without
them, how would you know what a mouse kidney looked like? They're strict on
timetables as well, and will often commence your lessons first thing in the
morning, by leaving a new exhibit (bird foot, decapitated mouse head) on the
rug next to the bed.
2. They encourage philosophical
thinking
And I’m not only talking about Schrödinger... Cats present daily paradoxes and conundrums to
test their owners, such as: My Cat
Refuses the Fancy Food Yet Feasts on Half a Dead Moth: Discuss. Or:The Only Water I Like to Drink is From the
Toilet or Your Glass: true or true?
For extra feline philosophy see Derrida’s cat in his
philosophical work: The
Animal that Therefore I am.
3. They hold down important jobs
Yet still manage to do almost nothing
at the same time. Take Tama, the
calico cat who was made Super Station Master at Kishi Station in Kinokawa,
Japan. Or Tuxedo Stan, who ran for
mayor in Halifax, Canada or El Candigato
Morris in Xalapa, Mexico, whose team pledged he would “rid the city of its corrupt
political rats”, and argued that voting for him was less of a joke than the
election itself.
4. Sometimes they even work for a living
Dogs aren’t the only ones who work. All
over the world, cats occasionally deign to accept employment. Take the
famous Tibs the Great, the Post
Office’s Number One Cat, who kept the HQ free from mice for fourteen years. Or
the many famous Ship Cats, like Able
Seacat Simon and Mrs Chippy. And
as for sniffer dogs, pah! At a police checkpoint in Stavropol, two Russian
cats, Barsik and Rusik, could sniff out smuggled cargos of black-market
sturgeon and caviar with astonishing accuracy, ousting the force’s sniffer dogs.
They were so successful, that eventually, they sadly became victims of a Mafia
hit.
5. They are celebrated in art
Forget “How Much is that Doggy in the
Window”. Cats have been inspiring works of art for thousands of years. Take the 9th
Century Old Irish poem “Pangur Bán”, written by a monk to his cat.
"Pangur" translates as “fuller” (e.g. someone who pounded woolen
cloth for a living: as anyone who owns a cat and has been subject to a vigorous
kneading can testify, it's an apt name) and Bán, meaning “fair” or “white”. And
then there's my personal favourite, Jeoffry the Cat, who kept poet Christopher
Smart company when his family had him incarcerated in an asylum. Smart
dedicated a whole section of his 1762 poem Jubilate Agno to Jeoffry: “For
he is a mixture of gravity and waggery... For by stroking him I have discovered
electricity”. From illuminated manuscripts to the magnificent Japanese Edo-era ukiyo-e woodblock
prints,
artists and cats go together like claws and the bottom of the sofa.
6. They Keep Writers Happy
Every writer needs a cat. Cats have
carefully honed the art of focus training, and frequently test a writer’s
determination to keep writing by time-honoured exercises, such as Walking Across the Keyboard, Sleeping on the Laptop, or Must
Sit on the Lap Now. Sometimes, they'll encourage you to take a break and
stretch your back and neck muscles by mewing loudly and persistently for food.
Writers are often odd creatures, who –
speaking for myself –require bothhours of solitude and sudden bursts of human
interaction. Who can better understand that than a cat? Alan Ginsberg, Joyce
Carol Oates, Mark Twain, Patricia Highsmith, Tove Jansson, Ernest Hemingway,
Neil Gaiman, Doris Lessing, Philip K. Dick, Edgar Allen Poe... Cat-lovers, all
of them. Over and out.
“You
belong to another time. You are lord
of a place bounded like a dream.”
—Jorge Luis
Borges, “To a Cat”
Please consider making a donation to your local animal
rescue centre (such as Cats Protection) this Christmas!
Title | One Small Act of Kindness
Author | Lucy DillonPublisher | HodderPublication Date | 23rd April 2015Source | Review CopyISBN | 9781444796025Purchase | AmazonA Page of Fictional Love Rating | 4/5What can you do to make the world a better place?
Libby and her husband Jason have moved back to his hometown to turn the family B&B into a boutique hotel. They have left London behind and all the memories – good and bad – that went with it.
The injured woman Libby finds lying in the remote country road has lost her memory. She doesn’t know why she came to be there, and no one seems to be looking for her.
When Libby offers to take her in, this one small act of kindness sets in motion a chain of events that will change many people’s lives . . .
I adored this book! One Small Act of Kindness is a story of hope,friendship and human decency. I was deeply touched by the delicate pace of this story that carried a powerful message of what performing an act of kindness can do for good of mankind.
We meet Libby and her husband Jason as they get to grips with their new home and business - the family B&B that they are taking over following Jason's fathers passing. Jason's mother was finding it hard to stay on top of the maintenance so they agreed to take it on. Libby's finding it hard to get used to her new life as she misses her friends, who agree to help her and visit her when they can. Jason never seems to be around, and Libby has to try and see if she can cope with Jason being around his old friends and not so much around the B&B... at least to begin with.
Libby shows her true gentle nature when there is an awful accident right outside the B&B and a woman lies injured... when she comes to in the hospital she doesn't know why she's there, where 'there' actually is, or who she is. She has no idea if she's being missed by anyone. She doesn't know her own name. Without ID on her, Libby feels for her and they slowly become friends as they try to discover who the mystery woman really is and where her place in life is.
I don't want to spoil the rest of the story because it's one that will warm your heart, and inspire you to go out and perform random acts of kindness.. or maybe some not so random acts of kindness to the people around you. Because you can never truly know just what that simple act of kindness can do to someone else's life. And I think that's what makes this book so beautiful. The fact that is reinstates faith and hope into society. A hope for a kinder world.
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What can you do to make the world a better place?
It may seem strange that I've opened my blog post with a question, but it's actually the one thing that encompasses the entire story of a brand new up-and-coming novel from the talented Lucy Dillon. Lucy has written a book that is released April 23rd, 2015, and it's called One Small Act of Kindness.
When I received it from the lovely people at Hodder, I couldn't wait to start reading it. I opened the book and intended to read only a few lines to get a taste of the style and opening of this beautiful book. But I literally just kept turning the pages - talk about a Page Turner of a book!
Let me share with you the description of this delightful and soul questioning book that will have you wondering what you can do to make the world around you a better place.
Libby and her husband Jason have moved back to his hometown to turn the family B&B into a boutique hotel. They have left London behind and all the memories - good and bad - that went with it.
The injured woman Libby finds lying in the remote country road has lost her memory. She doesn't know why she came to be there, and no one seems to be looking for her.
When Libby offers to take her in, this one small act of kindness sets in motion a chain of events that will change many people's lives . . .
I'm not going to go into too much detail about what happens yet as I will be posting up a full review very soon. But what I will say is that it starts with Libby struggling to locate the reservation details of a couple who booked to stay at the B&B. They don't appear to be on the system, but then again, Jason's Mum always booked in reservations in the Book. The entire B&B come Boutique Hotel in the making is upside down because Libby is in the process of the DEEP CLEAN and we ladies know what that means... Organised CHAOS of course ;)
Just when things seemed to be slowly resolving themselves, there is an almighty and terrible accident right outside of the Boutique Hotel, and Libby runs to see what's happened and if she can help. ...
Come back soon to read my full review. But until then, you can Pre-Order your copy here
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Author: Kay Langdale
Publisher: Hodder Books
Availability: Paperback can be PRE-ORDERED for £7.99 (due for publication 12th February 2015)
also available in Hardback and Kindle
A Page of Love Rating:
Book Description:
The heartbreaking novel from the author of CHOOSE ME, about the sacrifices parents must make and the anguish that can befall them.
When Monica is offered a three-month placement in LA, she knows that for the sake of her career she must accept it - even though it means leaving behind nine-year-old Ruby, toddler Luca and her husband Daniel.
She hires Ursula as a housekeeper and nanny during her absence, although the older woman is oddly reluctant to agree to a childcare position. What is the dark secret in Ursula's past, which has left her so closed-off and reserved? Will her growing attachment to Ruby bring it to the surface? And will Monica regret leaving the children in her care?
Dawn's Thoughts:
When I first picked this book up, I initially only meant to simply flick through it to get a gist of chapter lengths, text size and to smell that wonderful scent of a freshly printed paperback. However, two days later and I was wiping tears from my eyes, with my heart just breaking un-apologetically for Ursula.
This book is superbly written and I have read no other book in it's league. Sure I've read heart breaking novels, tearjerkers, and soul smiling titles that have longed stayed with me after putting them back on the shelf, but what Kay has created here is simply a psychological masterpiece.
The entire story had me unaware of what was hiding so darkly, deeply and painfully in Ursula's past, but when the truth came out, as it so often does in life, my heart shattered into a million pieces for her, sitting here writing this review, it is choking me up in the pit of my stomach as I recall the emotions I felt as I read the intricate details of not only what occurred but the emotions experienced by Ursula and the other characters. I simply cannot comprehend what was going through Ursula's mind and heart as her life unfolded, but Kay has carefully divulged and weaved together the closest humanely possible for us to ever experience what that must be like without ever experiencing it ourselves.
I usually divulge certain aspects of the novel with you my readers, but this time I simply cannot, because Away from You, is not a novel that enables me to do that. I can only encourage you to pick up the book, sit down, and allow yourself to experience it, I say experience it because you simply cannot just 'read' this. it is not just a book with woven pages printed with words and a 'story'. It is so much more than that, so much more than words can ever possibly begin to describe, and I urge you, to experience it in its fullness and allow yourself to become immersed and emotional with it. Please, 'read' this and then pass it along, because it is highly worthy of such an act of love.
Like a memory of a lost loved one, this book will stay with me forever. Without a doubt, Ursula's story will be a part of me until the day I am no more than a memory to someone, a face on a photograph, and a name written on a family tree.
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....
The Love Detective by Alexandra Potter
Published by Hodder
Price £6.99 (amazon links here)
Pages : 359
Reviewer Rating: Off the Radar!! 10/10 x a million (yes I love this book that much!)
'In a way, I'm a bit of a love detective. Because what's a greater mystery than love?'
Meet Ruby Miller. A write who makes happy-ever-afters happen. Until she discovers her fiancé is a lying cheat and loses her faith in love. So when her sister invites her on a beach holiday to Goa to forget about him, Ruby jumps on a plane... and into an extraordinary adventure.
Stolen bags, a runaway sister and a handsome American stranger sweep Ruby into a magical mystery tour across India. Amid fortresses and fortune tellers, and a whirlwind of weddings, she uncovers fascinating stories of love, lost and found.
But as the mysteries deepen, secrets are revealed that turn Ruby's life upside down. And what started as a journey to find her sister, becomes a journey to find herself - and love - again.
I admit that I fell for this book the second I saw the cover and read the cover. I am a magnet for all things pretty and love inspired. However, I was not prepared to be so captivated that I would read over 350 pages of pure gold in a week! Time flies when you're having fun and I even tweeted that I was 50 pages from the end and wasn't sure that I was ready to let Ruby or the handsome American (otherwise known as Jack) go.
We have all been in the place where we're heartbroken, maybe after facing the discovery of a lying cheat in our lives ( I know I certainly have) and this is what makes Ruby as a character so identifiable. I absolutely loved how detailed Ruby's journey through India was, it was a clear sign that Alexandra had most expertly done her research on the country that brings magic back into your life and transforms you - cracking open your heart as it did in Ruby's case. The journey of Ruby finding her little sister, in turn helped her find herself, beat the writer's block (as a fellow writer I know all to well how self-depreciating this can be), and find love in all un-presumed places.
Like the roads of India, Ruby's journey had many twists and turns that keep you deeply captivated and page turning. The romance between her and Jack was sweet and pure romance - highly believable and achievable! It's almost somewhat difficult to put into words just how amazing this book was to read, it's definitely one of those "You just have to read it!" titles.
The magical theme of this book comes through in a gentle and profound way that makes you feel as though you are there right by Ruby's side experiencing it all with her. Discovering India through Alexandra's words made me want to embrace all things 'Taj Mahal', and witnessing how the culture slowly seeps through into your very core (Yoga optional), is truly mesmerizing.
The exciting news about The Love Detective is that it's the start of a brand new series and through Twitter I got chatting to Alexandra and discovered that not only is she already working hard on the follow up book to this one which will be see Ruby (and perhaps Jack?!) in Paris, the Capital City of Love... and in a future Ruby Miller book, Venice will make an appearance!
This is truly a book to get excited about! Perfect for the long haul flight, poolside/beachside reading whilst topping up your tan, you simply won't be able to put it down. It's my favourite read of the year so far, and really comes up in line with Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic Series mixed with Eat Pray Love.
Website
Have you got lost in a Good Book lately? I have! In fact it happens to me so often that I think I resemble Alice in Wonderland falling down the rabbit hole on a daily basis as I fall into the mesmerizing words of Authors from all around the world of all genres.
Never Google Heartbreak by Emma Garcia
Published by Hodder
RRP £7.99 Amazon UK £5.59
As a Life Coach I have to say that one of the top areas clients request coaching for is relationships and love. We are a world that is so passionately head over heels in love with love that it is the most researched topic ever! It’s also the most effective way to sell anything – along with the “ways to get rich quick” advice that’s offered to us so freely at times it should carry a public health warning!
When we are in love we Google ’ways to keep the love flowing’, ‘ways to spice up the sex life’, and even ‘ways to get him to propose’! When we are single, we Google ‘ways to find love’, ’Will I ever meet my soul-mate?’ ‘How to enjoy being single?’ But in all honesty, how many of us ladies actually enjoy being single?
Then there are the times when we spot a hunk and the Google search heats up; “How to make him mine’, ‘How to look sexy’, ‘what to wear for a first date’, ‘How to bag your man’ etc…
We have all been there and there is certainly NO reason to feel ashamed! I’ve been there. I can claim to be a self confessed Love-A-Holic with the best of you ladies out there. So, in our modern times we not only hit the Google and work it to the max, but we abuse our plastic and search out those Self Help Love Manuals that tell us all the rules for LOVE – or so they claim. But how reliable are they? Should we really put all our hopes of love into one online shopping cart full of self help advice? Maybe – Maybe Not! Are Self help manuals the ONLY way in which we can get advice on Love? Hell no!
In my opinion some of the best dating advice, relationship counselling and coaching comes from the world of Fiction Authors! In a safe world of fantasy, we are more often able to admit our failures, our insecurities and work out plans of action to become the strong, powerful and independent women we desire to be!
Think about it, many of us have laughed and cried along with Rebecca Bloomwood created by Sophie Kinsella in her best-selling Shopaholic series, we found ourselves identifying with the girl in the green scarf. Maybe in the back of our mind every time we make a purchase we think of Rebecca and it may help us with making rash decisions regarding our finances. Is that not coaching at it’s most excellent?
What we should do though is caress our plastic and get a copy of “NEVER GOOGLE HEARTBREAK” by Emma Garcia! Seriously – I enjoyed reading this FICTION novel so much that I will recommend it to ALL my clients who want coaching on relationships and love because it shares the million dollar worthy Love Tip that we all should follow – Don’t go looking for Love – Let Love find You!
THE BLURB
When her fiancé Rob breaks off their engagement for the third time, Viv does what any girl would do – she Googles heartbreak.
Confronted by tales of misery, she decides to set-up her own self-help website for the broken-hearted. But as Viv passes through the three essential stages of grief (denial, vodka, disastrous haircut), she becomes determined that it’s not too late to try and get Rob back.
When things get out of hand after a drunken declaration of love at an extremely inappropriate moment, Viv’s scruffy, tequila-swilling best friend Max is there to pick up the pieces. Viv starts to realise that maybe the real thing has been under her nose all this time, and now – one ex and a massive error of judgement later – she has to face the question:What’s the craziest thing you’ll do for love?
THE BOOK – MY OPINION
What I loved about this book was that Viv was so blunt and honestly raw about her thoughts, feelings, desires and insecurities that it was easy to relax and get to know her as a friend for the length of the journey into her roller-coaster love life. I was gripped from the very first chapter. In fact the 3rd page gripped me because it began with Viv being in the place of love life denial that we have all been in at one point in our lives.
Throughout this book, Emma Garcia never faulted once! Each character was believable, relate-able and gripping. You could say it details the journey of a girl who thinks the life with a superficial dim-wit of a wealthy guy who “Looks” good but is rotten to the core – Rob, is amazing – that is until she grows into a beautiful swan who realises that the guy she should be focusing on is the one that “FEELS” good to be with – Max.
Throughout all her turmoil, including worrying about her ill Gran, she decides to set up a site called ; Never-Google-Heartbreak.com (Yes I did type it in the search engine – It simply had to be done!) which she dedicates to all the ladies out there who have relationship concerns – I won’t spoil it for you when you discover what the site can actually do by reading the book – not googling it!
Viv’s story is one that even I can relate to when in the end after all the heart break, confusion and denial, she finally finds the one she loves and who loves her right back!
I read this book whilst I was falling in love with my guy who loves me right back, and even though I had to contend with the love and romance in my own life, not to mention the threat of ear nibbles whilst reading the book, I couldn’t put the book down (much to my Mr Handsome’s avail 
)
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If you’re looking for a LAUGH OUT LOUD, Summer Chick Lit for this summer I can HIGHLY recommend NEVER GOOGLE HEARTBREAK – especially if you are a fan of Sophie Kinsella! Seriously I have a new Lady Author Crush and it’s for Emma Garcia!
Emma, please write a follow up! I can’t wait to read more from this FABULOUS new Author! She is definitely one to watch – and READ
I urge you to get yourself a copy. You can Click to BUY HERE
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