Ailish's Book Reviews

Dear Reader, BOOK DESCRIPTION: Chloe Townsend was dumped at the altar. But now she's landed an incredible job, running a brand-new hotel with a difference. It's a pioneering 'divorce hotel', designed to make every aspect of breaking up pain free - all in a single weekend. No one is better qualified than Chloe to deal with relationships at crisis point. But, with three unhappy couples needing her help, she's forced to tackle her own secret heartbreak. Can she hold it together and prove that she's up to the job? MY REVIEW: Claudia is back with her eleventh book, Love Me or Leave Me, a lively romantic comedy about love, betrayal, divorce and new beginnings. We meet Chloe who just two years ago was jilted at the altar and had to leave behind everything that mattered to her. She lands herself as General Manager at Dublin's newest luxury niche hotel catering to divorce couples. She is determined to make it a success but needless to say the course of tr

Dear Reader, BOOK DESCRIPTION: Meet Bryony: she’s a fun-loving, very single TV production assistant whose idea of sport is the Jimmy Choo sales scrum. Meet Jackson: Cycling’s bad boy superstar. Injured and out of a certain race this summer, without his training, he’s looking for another distraction… Bryony’s facing a triple whammy – her last single friend just named the day, her mother’s offering to have her eggs frozen, and the guy she’s loved from afar, forever, has just got hitched. So she’s more than happy to accept the offer of a totally out of character but seriously steamy one night of no-strings fun. Especially when the guy in question is so attractive he even looks good in Lycra! Jackson’s on the lookout for a new career but if the opportunity to work on TV means a fortnight with the most uptight woman in the world, he’d rather not bother. He never goes in for seconds – and who in their right mind would head off in a campervan, with a woman who irons her knickers? MY REVIEW: T

Dear Reader, BOOK DESCRIPTION: Rowena Tipton isn't looking for a new life, just a new adventure, something to while away the months as her long-term boyfriend presses pause on their relationship before they become engaged. But when a chance encounter at a New York wedding leads to an audition for a coveted houseshare in The Hamptons – Manhattan’s elite beach scene – suddenly a new life is exactly what she’s got. Stretching before her is a summer with three eclectic housemates, long days on white sand ocean beaches and parties on gilded tennis courts. But high rewards bring high stakes and Rowena soon finds herself caught in the crossfire of a vicious intimidation campaign. Alone for the first time in her adult life, she has no-one to turn to but a stranger who is everything she  doesn't  want - but possibly everything she needs. MY REVIEW: Could not wait to delve in to this book after reading Prima Donna as I am a huge fan of Karen Swan. This hefty book

Dear Reader,  BOOK DESCRIPTION: Kimmy Jones has three loves: cupcakes, gossip magazines and dreaming of getting fit just by owning celeb workouts. When Kimmy’s Sensible Boyfriend told her he didn’t approve of her longing for the high life or her dream of starting a cupcake company Kimmy thought she could compromise – after all, she did return those five-inch Paris Hilton heels! But asking her to trade in cake-making for a job sorting potatoes is a step too far. So, newly single - and newly homeless – Kimmy needs a dusting of Christmas luck. And, masquerading as a professional house sitter, her new temporary home is the stunning Mistletoe Mansion. Soon she’s best buds with glamorous next door golf WAG Melissa, and orders are pouring in for her fabulous Merry Berry cupcakes! The only thorn in her side is handsome handyman Luke, a distraction she definitely doesn’t need. And talking of distractions, something very odd is going on at night… Kimmy is finally living the life she’s always wan

Dear Reader, BOOK DESCRIPTION: Carrie Blake  loves her job as a nanny but, while her friends are settling down, all of Carrie’s spare time is spent with other people’s families. Though it breaks her heart, her New Year’s resolution is to embark on a new career and fix her love life. As Carrie starts her last job, she’s sure she’ll be going out on a high – the house is  amazing  , the kids are adorable, and she’s in charge of decorating the tree!  The only problem could be her boss… single-dad  Adam Fletcher  might be both handsome and successful, but he’s always working. Doesn’t he realise he’s missing out on precious moments with his son and daughter? As Adam’s family arrive for Christmas including his sensitive sister, Sharon, and his fun-loving elderly Grandpa, Walter, Carrie realises that she might just have found the perfect allies in her quest to persuade Adam to loosen up. There’s still time for Carrie to make this the best Christmas ever… after all, 

Dear Reader, BOOK DESCRIPTION: Christmas is a time for family… isn’t it? Allie Richfield loves Christmas, so when she lands a job as House Manager for the amazing Ashford Estate—which includes organizing the Marley family festivities—she is in her element. With a budget bigger than her life savings and a team of staff, how hard can it be? As one-by-one she meets the Marleys, she’s about to find out… Allie’s new boss, Robert, might be gorgeous, but he’s also colder than the snow outside and refuses to come home for Christmas.  Robert’s playboy brother, Kip, flirts with her relentlessly; and his sister, Sloane, arrives home with baggage—both the divorce-kind and the Louis Vuitton kind. Their ninety-two year old grandmother, Pippa, spends her day grumbling at them all from her mobility scooter. With Robert intending to sell Ashford, it’s the Marley’s last chance to create some happy memories in their family home—and Allie is determined to make it happen… even if it takes a little Christma

Book Description: Snow is falling thick and fast outside The Gingerbread Cafe and inside, its owner Lily is planning the wedding of the year. Her wedding! She never dreamt it would happen, but this Christmas, she'll be marrying the man of her dreams - in a Christmas-card perfect ceremony! The gingerbread is baking, the dress is fitted and the mistletoe's in place - for once, everything's going to plan. That is until her mother-in-law arrives... Suddenly, Lily's famous cool is being tested like never before and her dream wedding is crumbling before her eyes. In the blink of a fairylight, The Gingerbread Cafe has been thrown into chaos! Lily thought she has this wedding wrapped up, but with so much to do before she says 'I do', can Lily get to the church on time - and make this Christmas sparkle after all?  MY BOOK REVIEW: We are back with the residents of Ashford following Lil and Damon in the run up to their Christmas Eve wedding. I loved catching up with everyo

Dear Reader, Another instalment from The Gingerbread cafe series by Rebecca Raisin. This is to be read as book 3.  BOOK DESCRIPTION: Sarah Smith had an addiction – she was addicted to romance novels. The meet-cute, the passion, the drama and the gorgeous men! Now this wouldn’t have been such an issue if she hadn’t been the owner of the only bookshop in Ashford, Connecticut. Ever since her close friend Lil, from The Gingerbread Café, had become engaged she had been yearning for a little love to turn up in her life. Except Sarah knew a good man was hard to find – especially in a tiny town like Ashford. That was until New York journalist, Ridge Warner stepped into her bookshop…   Love could be just around the corner for Sarah, but will she be able to truly believe that happy-ever-after can happen in real-life too!   From the brilliant author of The Gingerbread Café trilogy don’t miss this linked novella to get a sneak-peek at how Damon and Lil are getting on before the next

BOOK DESCRIPTION: The Gingerbread Café is all a buzz! This Easter, Lily and the rest of the town of Ashford, Connecticut are planning a truly decadent Chocolate Festival. Cooking up a storm, CeeCee and Lily are not just baking a batch of their sinfully delicious chocolate-dipped gingerbread men, but an excess of chocolate truffles, squidgy, cinnamony hot cross buns and melt in your mouth chocolate eggs. The Gingerbread Café staff have definitely enjoyed the tasting process! Add in Damon’s cute-as-a-button seven year old daughter, Charlie, up for a visit and Lily’s perfect Easter may just be around the corner. Until her ex-husband Joel turns up demanding twenty thousand dollars… Suddenly the future of the Gingerbread Café is not so clear…and Lily finds herself eating far more of The Gingerbread Café’s treats than her skinny jeans allow… Can Lily concoct a brilliant plan to save her beloved café, convince Damon she has no feelings for Joel and still throw a Chocolate Festival

Dear Reader, Love this time of year when you get to read Christmas themed books! Thanks to twitter came across The Gingerbread Café Series by Rebecca Raisin. If you are looking for something rosemantic this season read on Genre: Contemporary Romance Publisher: Carina Published: 12th November 2013   BOOK DESCRIPTION: Christmas is the season the Gingerbread Café was made for…but owner Lily couldn’t be feeling less merry if she tried. She’s spent another year dreaming of being whisked away on a sleigh-ride for two, but she’s facing festive season alone – again. And, just to give her another reason to feel anything other than candy-cane perky, a new shop across the road has opened… Not only is it selling baked goods, but the owner, with his seriously charming smile, has every girl in town swooning. But Lily isn’t about to let her business crumble — the Gingerbread Café is the heart of the community, and she’s going to fight for it! This could be the Christmas that maybe,

Dear Reader, Let's meet Lawyer, Mickey Haller,  a criminal defense attorney who operates out of the backseat of his Lincoln Town Car - his office. He defend clients of every kind from con artists to drunk drivers to drug dealers.  In this first instalment of the series, a Beverly Hills playboy is arrested for attacking a woman who he picked up in a bar and of course chooses Haller to defend him, resulting in Mickey having his first high-paying client in years. As the evidence stacks up, Haller comes to believe that this may be the easiest case of his career. But then someone close to him is murdered and Mickey discovers that his search for innocence has brought him face-to-face with evil. To escape he must deploy every tactic, and instinct to save his own life.  A great fast pace thriller with some great court scenes. Looking forward to the next instalment. Enjoy! Regards, Ailish 

Dear Reader, The story begins with Misha who is an antiques-dealer in Manhattan. He discovers that his beloved dying mother, Anouk, possesses a Titian masterpiece when she tries to donate it to the Met, but they cannot authenticate the painting’s rightful owner. Misha’s stepfather Coyote, who abandoned Anouk and Misha 30 years earlier, reappears but Misha turns him away. Immediately full of questions, Misha decides to find out about the painting and to uncover the truth about his own history. He returns to Bordeaux, the village he and Anouk left when Misha was seven. Until the war, Anouk had been a nanny at a private estate. After the war, the villagers denounced Anouk as a traitor for marrying Misha’s father, who was a German officer. Witnessing her brutal humiliation caused Misha to become mute. Anouk continued to work at the estate until the handsome American Coyote arrived. Anouk and Coyote fell in love and the affectionate attention that he gave to Misha helped to bring ba

Dear Reader, Started reading the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child. The first book is Killing Floor.  We meet Reacher for the first time as he arrives in the small town of Malgrave after walking fourteen miles to get there. His anonymity is challenged  when the town has just had its first homicide in thirty years and as he is the only stranger in town, he is hauled in by the police for questioning. The Chief of Police has decided that Jack is guilty. It's Friday so while his alibi is being checked he faces a night in jail with another detainee by the name of Paul Hubble, a banker and they are then taken to the state run facility in Warburton. They are caged with the hard-core lifers. Jack's military background comes in handy for them as he ends up defending Hubble. Earning Hubble's trust Reacher learns that Hubble fears for both his life and his family. He is so afraid he can't give Reacher too much information. Reacher is anxious to get out of the place but then he f

Dear Reader, This is such a delightful novel by one of my favourite authors - Santa Montefiore. This captivating novel follows two stories. The first is set in Italy, and tells of Floriana, who was abandoned by her mother and her journey of falling in love with Dante, the son belonging to a prestigious family. They first meet when she is ten years old. One day Dante invites her inside his home, La Magdalena, and she is instantly captivated by its beauty and from that moment Floriana knows that it is her destiny to be there with him.  Their relationship faces many obstacles including the issues of a rich man dating an orphan girl. Decades later in a beautiful Country House Hotel in Devon, England, we meet Marina and her husband Grey who are desperately trying to save their beloved hotel from financial problems. Marina decides to hire an artist in residence, Rafa, to attract more customers. Both the family and     the guests fall in love with Rafa who is hiding a dark secret. Th

Dear Reader, I am a huge fan of Katie Fforde's so was delighted to read the lastest instalment, a great read though not her best. The Perfect Match (2014) Bella Castle, is an estate agent who left her hometown a couple years ago after realising she could no longer watch the man she loved start a family with someone else. Since then, Bella found a great job and a great home living with her godmother, Alice. She has a new boyfriend, Nevil, (also her boss) who Bella likes well enough but of course he can't really compare to Dominic. So then out of the blue who arrives but Dominic to her new town and Nevil starts acting strangely. So can Bella put the past behind her and ask Dominic for help in solving the mystery of Nevil? And more importantly will Bella finally realise that Nevil isn't the man for her? (So isn't!) Katie Fforde alternates between Alice and Bella's viewpoints. It's a good yarn but Bella's naivety was a little annoying at times with regards to Ne

Dear Reader, This is an epic story richly written and beautifully descriptive. Adriana Trigiani introduces us first to brothers Eduardo and Ciro, who are sent to a convent when their mother can no longer take care of them after the death of her husband. The story is set against the backdrop of the Italian Alps. Trigiani moves us through their unconventional upbringing by the nuns to their immigrant experience in America. There is, of course, a love story, but before this relationship develops, the author has her sentiments about the Catholic Church. Eduardo is a scholarly older brother, dedicated to protecting his outgoing younger sibling, Ciro. Ciro is a strong character who the nuns adore with his sense of humour and his commitment to earning his keep in the Convent. When 16-year-old Ciro travels to Enza’s village to dig the grave of her little sister, the two meet for the first time, and Enza falls in love.  Then when Ciro catches the local priest in a scandal, he is banished f

Dear Readers, Just finished reading this wonderful book, couldn't put it down, finished it in one sitting. Veronica Henry has a new fan! Welcome on board the Orient Express! The famous Orient Express offers mystery and romance, it is the trip of a lifetime. What better way to travel to Venice! Each passenger has their own story to tell and a reason for being there. As the train travels from London to Venice, there will be revelations, drama and unforeseen gestures of love in all its forms. At the beginning of the novel there are many different characters that are introduced. Normally I do not like so many characters in a novel but this works, you get so drawn into their lives.  Veronica Henry tells four different stories of individuals and families who have their own  reasons for travelling in style to Venice.   Imogen is heading to Venice to collect a painting for her grandmother but there is a surprise in store for her.  Stephanie is travelling with her new partner, Si

Dear Reader, This is a stand-alone novel from the creator of the Wallander detective novels. This novel tells the tale of a horrific crime and a frightening killer. One cold January day the Police are called out to a small little village in the North of Sweden where they find victims of a savage murder. While the local Police struggle to finds clues or even a motive, the case attracts the attention of Birgitta Roslin, a Judge, whose mother grew up in the village. She comes across diaries from the house of one of the victims kept by Jan Andren, who is an immigrant ancestor of Birgitta’s. The diaries cover Andren’s time as a foreman on the building of the transcontinental railroad in America. Extended flashbacks chart the journey of, San, a railroad worker, who was kidnapped in China and shipped to America in 1863. After finding evidence linking the mysterious Chinese man to the Hesjovallen murders, Birgitta travels to Beijing, suspecting that the motive for the horrific crime is

The Real Thing (1996) Tessa is heading off on the annual family holiday to the Scottish Highlands. She discovers that this year, Patrick - the artist she fell for when she was seventeen - is back from Italy. Back then her father, a vicar, had forbidden her from seeing Patrick and she then went on to marry David and have two children. But she has never forgotten Patrick. When David, a Barrister, returns to London early for work, Tessa has an accident and is forced to rest up at Patrick's mother's home. It seems that they may well be brought back together again. As Tessa faces up to whether she's with the right man, she goes from one crazy predicament to the next, with a lot of surprising announcements along the way. A glorious tale of love with hilarious dialogue.  Really enjoyed this book a great pick-me-up after a stressful day at work! 

Really enjoyed this book. A charming debut from Anne-Marie Casey. It's almost like a grown up version of Sex And The City. The storyline grabs you from the first page so that you can't help but get hooked by each of the characters. This novel revolves around four woman who live in New York.  We have Lucy, Christy, Robyn and Julia. They each live very different lives but they all share one thing - the city that they live in.  Lucy is the first woman that we are introduced to in this novel, her husband has just lost his job and they have to move half way across the world from their sophisticated life in London to a small apartment in New York or Manhattan to be precise. Christy is married to a wealthy man, who is a lot older than she is. She wants to get along with her stepdaughter who can't seem to try and get on with her .But when she starts feeling things for the doorman she doesn't know what she wants anymore and starts questioning everything about her life.

Just finished reading Secrets From The Past by Barbara Taylor Bradford. It has been awhile since I have read one of her books and I was intrigued by this book on the shelf. The last book I read by her was Letter From A Stranger which I loved but I must say I was a little disappointed with this one. This is a novel of deeply-buried secrets, passionate love, obsession and redemption.  Thirty-year old Serena Stone is a talented war photographer who has followed in her father's footsteps. But when he dies unexpectedly in France, she steps away from the war zone weary of years of danger. She decides to write her father's own story and approaches Harry Redford, his best friend and front line colleague. Harry wants her to go to Venice to take care of Zac North, her former lover, who has come out of Afghanistan suffering from mental and physical exhaustion. The scene shifts to Nice, where Serena reconnects with her older twin sisters, Cara and Jessica, at a villa inh

Dear Reader, Welcome to my first book review blog – very exciting altogether! I am going to start off with a review of Cathy Kelly’s, Homecoming, which I hope you read. I really enjoyed it. Let me know what you think of it. Till next time, happy reading! Regards, Ailish Homecoming by Cathy Kelly Book Details Paperback; 432 pages Published September 16 th 2010 by HarperCollinsUK (First published 2010) Source: Library Home is where the heart is Four women. Four lives. One place they call home. We are introduced to Eleanor Levine who left Ireland years ago with just a suitcase and her mother's recipe book. And now, seventy years later, she returns from New York to Dublin's beautiful Golden Square heartbroken after the recent, sudden death of her husband. As she watches life unfold from her window, she is drawn into the lives of the women who live in the square. Beautiful actress Megan Bouchier had fame and success in her grasp - then sh