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30/05/2016

** BLOG TOUR ** The Translation of Love by Lynne Kutsukake


This book is published on 2nd June 2016 in paperback by Transworld Publishers. My thanks to them for my review copy and inviting me onto the blog tour.

After World War Two, during the American occupation, citizens of Japan were encouraged to apply directly to General MacArthur – “if you have a problem, write a letter, this is what democracy means”. So write they did. MacArthur received over 500,000 letters during this time, letters of entreaty, rage, gratitude, complaint, even adoration. The Translations of Love delves into a world where letters are salvation.

Twelve-year-old Fumi Tanaka has a problem – her beautiful and beloved older sister, Sumiko, has disappeared. Determined to find her, Fumi enlists the help of her new classmate Aya, forcibly repatriated with her father from Canada after the war. Together, they write to MacArthur and deliver their letter into the reluctant hands of Corporal Matt Matsumoto, a Japanese-American GI whose job it is to translate the endless letters. 

When weeks pass and they hear nothing from Matt, the girls take matters into their own hands, venturing into the dark and dangerous world of the black market and dancehalls. They're unaware that their teacher, Kondo Sensei, moonlights as a translator of love letters, and that he holds the key to Sumiko's safe return.

My Thoughts:

I am sure that there a great many books out there fiction and non fiction that are about the Post War Occupation of Japan. I ashamedly have not read any of them, so therefore my knowledge of this is very limited. It didn't impede my reading of the story, in actual fact I think I was able to gain something more from it. I also love books with and about letters.

This is a book that buzzes along with  real heart and a pulse. A book where you can immerse yourself in another culture and another time entirely. This is a testament to the quality of the writing here. This book is engaging and consuming with wonderfully written, intriguing characters. There is a vast array of Characters all different but the main ones are Fumi, Aya, Matt and Kondo Sensei.

We have the story of the friendship between Fumi and Aya. Aya has come to Japan from America, after the war. Her and her father were forcibly repatriated, she feels that she is in a foreign land, a land where she doesn't fit in. Fumi was told by Kondo Sensei, their teacher to befriend and help Aya and although at first a burden the two teenage girls soon become friends.

Matt Matsumoto is a great character, a driven and determined man, who has seen his own sadness and tragedy. He is employed by General MacArthur to translate letters from Japanese to English. Letters that are supposed to assist in the bringing about of Democracy.

Kondo Sensei is the girls teacher, although I felt that he was a little disillusioned with the way things were. He tries to make extra money in his spare time by translating letters in an alleyway, these are mainly from Japanese ladies to the American GI's.

Fumi and Aya embark upon a search for Fumi's missing sister Sumiko, here the threads of the story begin to come together. Although the girls stumble across different situations the story still remained real and very much believable.

The story is told from various viewpoints with several different threads of the story ultimately coming together. This book is moving and the author has brought about vivid characters that for all they have been through have a toughness and a sense of hope about them.

A story of friendship, kindness, hope and love. Well written, very real and a joy and a pleasure to read. I recommend it very much. The landscapes and the characters are still floating around in my head. I am not normally one to read historical fiction but this book was very accessible and actually quite unforgettable.



Lynne Kutsukake is a third generation Japanese Canadian. She has studied Japanese Literature and for many years worked as a Librarian at the University of Toronto. Her short stories have appeared in a number of publications and The Translation of Love is her first novel. She lives in Toronto. 

She is on Twitter @LynneKutsukake







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24/05/2016

The Lad Lit Blog Tour with Steven Scaffardi...

I am delighted to welcome you to something a bit different for me on the blog today. The Lad Lit Blog Tour with Steven Scaffardi.

Steven Scaffardi is the author of The Drought and most recently The Flood. These books are in The Sex, Love & Dating Disasters series.  I have read The Drought recently and have reviewed below.

Dan Hilles is a pretty regular kind of guy - regular job, regular bunch of mates, regular male aversion to shopping. But following his break-up with long-term girlfriend, Stacey, he finds himself single again. He's been out of the game for a while and is a little out of practice. Soon, the very irregular and increasingly worrying issue in Dan's life is the extended drought he finds himself suffering. And we're not talking the climate change, scorched earth, God I'm parched variety. 

You've got to hand it to Dan though - it certainly isn't from a lack of trying. With stalwart mates Ollie, Jack and Rob on hand to lend their collective pearls of male wisdom and arrange the odd road trip, you'd think Dan's days of languishing in a sexual wilderness would be numbered. You'd think... 

Even best friends can't help prevent the kind of surreal holes Dan just can't seem to help digging himself into. And with each failed attempt, his self-esteem plummets to the point where he wonders if 'little Dan' will ever work again. 

Good job he has Kelly, his reliable and sympathetic colleague, to confide in. As a woman, she can perhaps shed some female light on why he's failing so miserably with the opposite sex, balancing out the testosterone-fuelled 'advice' from the lads. Surely Dan can't go wrong with Kelly teaching him the various intricacies of a woman's mind. You'd think... 


My Thoughts:

Sometimes I just need a book that does what it says in the blurb, that isn't going to tax me but something that is an absolute bundle of fun. The Drought was just that. It had me absolutely roaring with laughter. It was rude, crude and some of the situations had me cracking up. Considering I am not a 'lad' I think this is a feat on the authors part.

He has written a romantic comedy about boys that appeals to boys and girls and rarely has a book made me laugh out loud so much. It has been written with a wicked humour that reminded me of a cross between the television programmes Peep Show and Fresh Meat. It really allowed me to get into the mind of what a group of lads get up to and talk about when they get together. The main character Dan Hilles must be one of the unluckiest in love people I have ever come across, so much so that he was almost a parody of himself.

The situations and scenarios that the Lads found themselves in played themselves out in my mind predictably and I was cringing before it got to point where I was thinking, yes that really did happen. However I can actually imagine them happening in real life and this only added to the humour that the author has captured in his story telling.

Hugely entertaining, a hilarious read and I will definitely be reading The Flood now as I have a feeling that poor Dan might have bitten off more than he can chew.





Find out more about Steven on his blog:
http://stevenscaffardi.blogspot.co.uk/p/about-steven-scaffardi.html

He can also be found around various social media:

Social media links



If you are interested in finding out more about the characters above please find the purchasing links for the books below:


Amazon links

This is a massive blog tour, so please do check out some for the other spots for guest posts, reviews and more.



17/05/2016

** BLOG TOUR ** Anything for Her by Jack Jordan


I am delighted today to be taking part in the blog tour for Anything for Her. This book was on my top reads of 2015, and I think its new look will make it even more of a success.

Sometimes the past comes back to haunt you. 

Louise Leighton’s life has fallen apart, all because of one fateful night. Her husband is an adulterer, her sister is his mistress, and soon, Louise will lose everything she owns. But she never imagined she would lose her daughter. 

Eighteen-year-old Brooke Leighton is missing. It’s up to Louise and the Metropolitan Police to find her. Has Brooke run away? Or has she been taken against her will? And can Louise aid the investigation without mentioning the night where all of her troubles began? 

If she mentions that night, she will incriminate her daughter for heinous crimes. But if she doesn’t, she may never find Brooke; and if she has been abducted, the person who took her may come for Louise, too. 

Sometimes the past comes back to kill you.

                                                ~~~~~~

I am thrilled that Jack was able to stop by and answer a few questions today. I welcome him here and wish him every success with the book.

1.       Where is your favourite place to write and is there any particular time that works better for you?
            
It’s such a cliché, but my favourite place to write is my local coffee shop. Writing can be a lonely profession, so writing in a room full of people while having my own headspace is really beneficial for me. I find I’m more productive when writing in this setting (and I get to drink my favourite coffee, too!).

I’m no use to anyone in the morning, so I begin writing in the afternoon and work into the evening. 

2.      Where do your ideas for your books come from?
            
Different plots come from different sources. A sentence in one book can inspire me to write a whole novel; a film about romance can somehow spark a bloody thriller in my mind; a stray thought can grow into an entire storyline; a small exchange between strangers can conjure a burst of ideas. Personal experiences certainly work their way into my plots, and true stories from others are really inspiring. Most of the time, my ideas come to me before I fall asleep (hence the need to work from a coffee shop!). I let my imagination run wild, and countless ideas present themselves.

3.     Are there any characters that you would like to develop further in future, or a particular theme you would      like to write about?
            
After writing Anything for Her, I had a lot of readers asking if I would continue to tell the stories of the remaining characters. Although I considered it, in the end I decided to leave their fates up to each individual reader.

I try to steer clear from creating a series.  As a reader, I love to continue reading a character’s journey, but as a writer, I want to have as much creative freedom as possible, and I personally feel that a series would be counterproductive for me. My protagonists are vastly different from each other, with completely different struggles, so I like to allow them to tell their own stories without overlapping with others.

When it comes to themes, I feel it is important to write about things that are important. Some themes are relatively quiet in my plots, but they are present. In the future, I plan to feature social issues that I feel need to be addressed.   

4.     Are you currently writing anything else?
          
  I’m currently writing two novels (I know, I’m crazy!). I always have about ten novels waiting to be written, with new stories cropping up and jumping the queue. This time, I have two stories that can’t wait any longer: the first is my third thriller featuring my third female protagonist, and the other is a new adventure of mine, taking the form of contemporary horror (nothing supernatural or otherworldly – don’t panic!). It will feature my usual thriller-pace, but will allow me to explore new boundaries. Luckily, my writing is known to be quite dark, so dipping into the contemporary horror genre won’t be too much of a leap.

 It’s become the norm for writers to stick to one genre for their whole careers, or write under pseudonyms should they wish to explore other territories. Although I understand that the reason is for an author’s brand, I miss the days when writers could present vastly different stories over their careers. Margaret Atwood has written dystopian fiction, a historical murder mystery, and literary fiction, to name a few, completely free from restrictions from her agent and publisher. It is this sort of freedom that I want and need as a creative. I don’t want to be known as just a thriller writer, but an all-rounded storyteller. 


5.     Which Writers inspire you?
            
For my dark thrillers, the writers that inspire me are the likes of Karin Slaughter, Mo Hayder, and Shirley Jackson (The Lottery is a masterpiece that every writer can learn from!). 

6.     Which book would you most likely give as a gift or recommend to other people?
            
Bird Box by Josh Malerman. I read the book earlier this year, and it has become one of my all-time favourite books.  

7.      Could you share with us something that other people don’t necessarily know about you?

 I’m a passionate advocate for animal rights and opposed to animal agriculture, living a vegan lifestyle for the animals and the environment (I sound like Leonardo Dicaprio in his Oscars acceptance speech!). 

8.    If you could have written any book from the past, which would it be?

  Without a doubt: Gone with the Wind. Despite the racism being difficult to digest, I adore this 1000-paged story, and consider it to be my all-time favourite book.

            ‘Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.’
            **shivers** 

9.       What do you like to do in your spare time?

   Reading is my ultimate pastime. If I’m not reading, I’m secretly thinking about how long I have until I’m reunited with my current book.  

Jack Jordan’s debut thriller, Anything for Her, is available now, and his anticipated second thriller, My Girl, is available 4th July 2016.

       Thank you!
            You’re very welcome! J

If all that wasn't enough to make you want to read Anything for Her, I would like to reiterate my review:

In all honesty I did not know what to expect as I would think that this is on of the few self published books that I have read. Something about the cover design and the synopsis just drew me in and I just had to find out more.

I can say that this is a thriller of an extremely high standard. It had me hooked from page one. It was taut with a pace that just didn't taper off for a second. 

This is clever and skillful writing and the plot is weaved together intricately. As the events of the night the changed Louise's life slowly come to light bit by bit, we are given small glimpses at first and then it all starts to unravel almost at the same rate at Louise's emotions.

There is just enough mystery to keep the reader guessing and engaged to find out what happens and a few red herrings in there to throw you off the scent.

The author has created some despicable characters, but characters that jump off of the page for all of their nuances. I could feel myself feeling sorry for Louise's Son Dominic, an innocent and young bystander drawn into the cruelty of the adults.  

The ending of this book is superb and although I thought I had an idea where it was going, it went that little bit further than I had bargained for. To say more will spoil it for others. If you want to know more then you are just going to have to buy it and read it.


Highly recommended and Jack Jordan is certainly a writer to watch out for.


About the Author:

Jack Jordan lives in East Anglia, England. He is an introvert disguised as an extrovert, an intelligent person who can say very unintelligent things, and a self-confessed bibliomaniac with more books than sense. 'Anything for Her' is Jack Jordan's debut novel.

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16/05/2016

To Retribution by F.J. Curlew



The military is in control. Tight control. Media is censored, movement restricted. There are re-education camps for trouble makers, repatriation camps for non-nationals. 

Jake, Brian and Suze, three idealistic young journalists, are used to hiding as they try to keep their online news channel open. They publish the truth about the repatriations, the corruption and the deceit.
 New Dawn, the feared security force, is closing in yet again. The trio run, yet again. This time, however, they are pursued with a relentlessness, a brutality which seems far too extreme for their 'crimes.' 

A trail of death is left in their wake as they try to escape New Dawn and find out what is really behind this hunt. They are drawn into a web of human trafficking, child abuse and murder. Only it's closer than they think. Much closer. 
Who would you trust when there's no going back?


My Thoughts:

First off all I am going to be honest and say that I stepped out of my comfort zone when I chose to read this book. However I do like to read widely and in different genres, and I am glad that I gave this book a chance.

Set in Britain in a indeterminate time in the not too distant future, this book is an examination of what it would be like if the military were to take over. It also shows the consequences of this and the imagined world that this change of leadership would represent. 

Now you might be forgiven that this slightly dystopian future that is presented in this story would be impossible, but the story took on a certain plausibility and I could certainly buy into many aspects of the plot. 

I am the person who hasn't made it past Chapter 8 of 1984 by George Orwell as I was too scared by the prediction of it all. So I am surprised I managed to read all of this without running away.

The story tackles a number of political and social issues some of which are commonplace even in the current times. The author has created a solid set of characters and created a landscape that is well imagined. I found the story to be thrilling and found myself turning the pages faster and faster to reach the conclusion. 

My favourite character is Ranulf although it is in question as to whether this is his real name. Ranulf played an instrumental part in the story and he basically lives a nomadic and self sufficient lifestyle. He fends for and depends on himself, he is strong and independent and he has a good heart. I admired his qualities, he was a refreshing change against the brutal landscape and gave others characters reason to hope and reasons to survive.

I would recommend this book if you like political thrillers but also if you want to have your thoughts provoked by current issues and issues that could occur in the future. An original, well written book with an intriguing plot. 
                              
                                      ~~~~~~~~~~~

I would like to welcome Fiona to the blog today, she has answered a few questions and given a bit more of an insight into her writing. Thank you for stopping by and I wish you every success with the book. 

1)      Where is your favourite place to write and is there any particular time that works better for you?

In my head it's a remote cottage on the wild, windswept, highland coast of Scotland. Rain lashes against the windows as I snuggle in a huge armchair beside a roaring log fire. In reality it's a pile of cushions in the corner of my bedroom, for possession of which I have to wrestle with my dogs and cat!
I always write in the afternoons.

2)      Where did the idea for To Retribution come from?

It began as a short story, 'Catharticism', which I wrote for my Open University course. I had remembered getting a lift, many moons ago, from a man who was giving up a successful corporative life to go and live in the middle of nowhere with some goats. I played with the character, imagined what might make someone drop out like that. I moved him to the future and set him down in a dark Britain where the military had taken control. In the story I had him giving a lift to an escapee political prisoner. People liked it, as did I. I took on board the suggestion of expanding it into a novel,  played with some characters, took them on a walk, brought in some contemporary issues, thoroughly enjoyed it. 'To Retribution' was born.

3)      Are there any Characters that you would like to develop further in future, or a particular theme you would like to write about?

Oh...big question! I have toyed with that since I finished writing 'To Retribution'. I like the military coup being in Britain, challenging that 'it couldn't happen here' thinking. Lots of scope which I may well use again. I have had people ask about a sequel but didn't want to restrict myself like that; become an author who wrote slightly dystopian political books. There were other ideas, a multitude of them, which have been spinning around in my head. I've lived in so many places, seen so many things - plenty more to write about!
As for the characters? Yes. I think Ranulf has a lot of potential and I really enjoyed getting inside his head. I may visit him again.

4)      Are you currently writing anything else?

Yes. If I am not writing these days there's just something very integral missing from my life. I am working on a novel based in a fictitious war torn country. Present day mingled with history. It's a story about relationships, assumptions and strength. Overcoming a dark past... I write on the hoof so it may all change! 'To Retribution' is a no frills thriller. This novel is a slower affair.

5)      Which Writers inspire you?

So many...Andre Makine, Chris Cleave, Leif Davidsen, Stieg Larsson, Ian Rankin...

6)      Which book would you most likely give as a gift or recommend to other people?

It would depend very much on the people! I think my most recommended book has been 'McCarthy's Bar' by Pete McCarthy, simply because it had me in stitches. I think we all need to laugh a bit more.

7)      Could you share with us something that other people don’t necessarily know about you?

Sometimes when I walk along the shore, look out across the water, watch the birds dive and swoop, listen to the pebbles laughing as the waves tickle them back and forth, I cry. Just because it is so very good to be alive!

8)      If you could have written any book from the past, which would it be?

Right now, Makine's 'Unknown Man' - brilliant, heart wrenching, provocative. Of course, subject to change...

9)      What do you like to do in your spare time?

I go for monumentally huge dog walks. Serious withdrawal symptoms creep in if the weather is too foul for too long! It's also when I do my best creative thinking. I am an absolute musicaholic listening to everything from Mahler to The Real McKenzies, Brand New to Beethoven, with the ultimate treat being a live gig. I love watching football (big Heart of Midlothian fan!) - again, preferably live. I sometimes wonder what my neighbours must think - I am prone to vociferous excitement! Being in beautiful places with beautiful people is probably best of all. Oh, and reading, of course ;)

10)   Is there anything else you would like to add/discuss that I haven’t included?

I don't think so!

       Thank you!



About the Author:


Fiona dropped out of school aged 15, because being the consummate rebel, she hated it! After becoming a single parent she decided to return to education, graduating in 1996 with an honours degree in primary education. Ah, the irony! 
As soon as she graduated she packed everything she owned into her Renault 11, including her daughter, two dogs and a cat, and headed off to Estonia to become an international school teacher. After fifteen years of teaching, predominantly in Eastern Europe, she returned to the UK to focus on her writing.
She now lives on the east coast of Scotland with a rescued Ukrainian street mutt, a Scottish black lab and a Portuguese cat who doesn't like the weather!
'To Retribution' is her first novel.


You can find out more on her website, or find her on twitter @FJCurlew.


Her book is available now:http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/619821




13/05/2016

**BLOG TOUR** The Wacky Man by Lyn G. Farrell


Published by Legend Press on 2nd May 2016. Available in paperback and e book.

My new shrink asks me, 'What things do you remember about being very young?' It's like looking into a murky river, I say. Memories flash near the surface like fish coming up for flies. The past peeps out, startles me, and then is gone... 

Amanda secludes herself in her bedroom, no longer willing to face the outside world. Gradually, she pieces together the story of her life: her brothers have had to abandon her, her mother scarcely talks to her, and the Wacky Man could return any day to burn the house down. Just like he promised. 

As her family disintegrates, Amanda hopes for a better future, a way out from the violence and fear that has consumed her childhood. But can she cling to her sanity, before insanity itself is her only means of escape?

My Thoughts:

I finished this book last night in preparation for doing this post today and I can honestly say I am still being assaulted by a barrage of emotions. I am going to go out on a limb here, and I don't often say this, it is one of the most incredulous, brilliant and stupendous pieces of writing I have EVER read.

This story is about the lives of a family where all is not well, most live in fear. Happiness is snatched in the smallest of glimpses, before The Wacky Man comes home from work. Happiness is not an option with him around. Amanda and her two brothers are not children who are allowed to grow up and experience the best things of childhood, they are scared, they are abused and they are vulnerable. 

The emotions danced around on the page, every emotion that the characters portrayed provoked a strong reaction in me. This story made me cry, but it also made me so bloody angry. Angry, at the father, angry at the way the children were treated and angry at the mother for not intervening more.

I don't know with what if any experience that the author writes this story. Her background in Psychology might have helped but I don't know. She managed to get into every one of the characters heads entirely and lay them out on the page bringing a stark, harsh reality to the story they portrayed.

Amanda is heart breaking, this poor damaged girl. The start she had to life was unfair and unjust and it shows as the book progresses the lasting damage that can occur. My heart ached for her throughout. No one to understand her and nobody that seemingly particularly cared. I think that she felt alone, unloved and abandoned. 

This book is absolutely astonishing, I am pleased to have read it. There are some times when I read a book that I class as important. A story that ought to be told and ought to be read. A story with a message and this is one of those.

Important, emotionally charged, unflinching in its scope and a masterpiece of human emotion and a portrayal of the worst of behaviours. It would take flying unicorns to park up outside for this not to be on my books of the year list.

Read it for yourselves, you'll see...

About the Author:

Lyn G Farrell is the winner of the 2015 Luke Bitmead Bursary Award for her debut novel.

Lyn G Farrell grew up in Lancashire where she would have gone to school if things had been different. She studied Psychology as an undergraduate at the University of Leeds, later gaining a PGCET and most recently, a Masters in ICT and Education. Having worked in a number of IT and teaching roles, she is currently an online tutor in the School of Education at Leeds Beckett University.

You can contact Lyn via Legend Press or via Twitter @FarrellWrites


04/05/2016

The Last Days of Summer by Vanessa Ronan


The Last Days of Summer by Vanessa Ronan
Published 5th May 2016 by Penguin Books
Trade paperback (12.99), E-book (7.99) and Audio (£12.00)

My thanks to the publisher who sent me a review copy.


After ten years in the Huntsville State Penitentiary, Jasper Curtis returns home to live with his sister and her two daughters. Lizzie does not know who she's letting into her home: the brother she grew up loving or the monster he became.


Teenage Katie distrusts this strange man in their home but eleven-year-old Joanne is just intrigued by her new uncle. Jasper says he's all done with trouble, but in a forgotten prairie town that knows no forgiveness, it does not take long for trouble to arrive at their door...

My Thoughts:

Upon first glancing at this cover I had somehow assumed that it would be a light hearted story with the feel of Summer about it. I was right about one of those points. You can feel summer in this book, you can feel the cloying and stifling heat of summer days. From the very first line I was captivated. 

Beautifully descriptive and extremely well written, I loved this authors style of writing. Set in a prairie town in Texas, you really get a sense of the place from the first page. Straight away you feel as if you are sitting on that particular porch of that house, watching the story unfold. 

Lizzie lives in her mothers old house with her Daughters, Katie and Joanne. This story is about the Summer that Lizzie's brother Jasper is released with prison and returns to live with them in the family home. They story is about what happened then and what happens now. At first we don't know why Jasper went to prison. It takes a while to find out, it is kind of pieced together bit by bit, with little bits being dropped into the story. This very cleverly helped to build the suspense.  I would say this is about whether we can have acceptance and tolerance and it also about being a social outcast and whether or not it is possible to forgive. 

This story is told from the viewpoints of several of the characters, but the characters are all so troubled and tense when Jasper is around. This tension builds up and adds to the plot, it is palpable as you flick from page to page. 

I adored the Character of Joanne, she is only eleven. She adds a childlike innocence to the whole story. At that age our opinions are not as black and white as an adults. 

If there was one thing I would say I didn't like and that was the lack of Chapters, I would have preferred them but I am not sure if this was intentionally done to add to the sense of endless summer days rolling on.

Here we have a book that is descriptive, atmospheric and really quite beautifully written. It has a touch of the brutal about it, human nature and human behaviour, good and evil, innocent and guilty, right and wrong.

I would recommend this book highly, I thought it was a superb piece of writing and a brilliant first novel, and I also found it original. 

About the Author:



Vanessa Ronan was born in Houston and in her 28 years has lived in Texas, Mexico, New York, Edinburgh, and Dublin, where she now lives with her Irish husband. Among other things, she has been a dancer, a PA, a barmaid, a literature student, a dance teacher, and now, a writer. Home-schooled by her literature teacher parents, Vanessa began writing as soon as she learnt the alphabet. The Last Days of Summer is her first novel.












02/05/2016

The Night That Changed Everything by Laura Tait and Jimmy Rice


This book was published by Corgi in paperback on 24th March 2016. My thanks to the publisher for sending my review copy.


Rebecca is the only girl she knows who didn't cry at the end of Titanic. Ben is the only man he knows who did. Rebecca’s untidy but Ben doesn’t mind picking up her pieces. Ben is laid back by Rebecca keeps him on his toes. They're a perfect match.


Nothing can come between them. Or so they think.


When a throwaway comment reveals a secret from the past, their love story is rewritten.


Can they recover from the night that changed everything? And how do you forgive when you can’t forget?

My Thoughts:

I was initially drawn to this book because it was written by two authors. I was interested to see how this concept would work. This book has been written with the authors taking alternate chapters. I think this worked very well, and provided the characters with distinct voices and brought them more to life somehow.

I guess this would be classified as a love story but it is more about what happens when as in life the love story doesn't always work out as planned. It is about the fall out of a relationship when things go wrong, about the implication of friends in relationships and also recriminations and the loyalties and patience of friends being tested to the limit.

I didn't especially relate to the characters. I found Rebecca a little annoying as she was a bit naive and didn't seem as mature as her age. That said I did find her to be a realistic character and worked well within this story.

There is an event that happens within the book that did bring a lump to my throat, I won't discuss it now as it will spoil the story if you haven't read it. If you have you will know what I mean!

Overall this book kept me entertained. As it is not the usual sort of book I go for it made a pleasant change. I was surprised with the ending as it wasn't quite as predictable as I had envisaged.



About the Authors:


Jimmy and Laura became friends while studying journalism at Sheffield University, so sitting in pubs talking about life and love is something they've been doing for the last ten years. Now they write it all down, but little else has changed. Jimmy still tells Laura off for always being late, and Laura can still drink Jimmy under the table.

Their friendship survives because Laura makes tea exactly how Jimmy likes it (he once took a picture of his perfect brew on Laura's phone so she can colour match it for strength) and because Jimmy noted Laura's weakness for custard creams and stocks up accordingly. 

Laura works as a journalist for Shortlist and Jimmy is a news journalist.

Follow them on Twitter @LauraAndJimmy
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