Ailish's Book Reviews

Dear Reader, Another brilliant festive read from Jenny Hale and I enjoyed this one as much as the others I have read. Jenny Hale really has a way of bringing across the magic and excitement of Christmas.  All I Want for Christmas is a charming story about Leah who is a single mother to the gorgeous Sadie and she works as a florist. She is planning on having a family Christmas at her grandmothers house in Virginia but knows that it will not be the same this year as her grandmother has passed away. While still grieving she receives a letter that was left to her by 'Nan' who decided to change her will at the last minute and has left the other half of the plantation to childhood friend, David Forester. Leah's world comes suddenly crashing down. She has not seen David since they were children and she is unsure as to why Nan would do this to her. Leah has two very good friends, Louise and Roz, who are a great support to her and give plenty of advice on what sh...

Dear Reader, Wow! Where to begin with this truly outstanding book by Lucinda Riley. It is the first in the series of The Seven Sisters which begins with Maia, the oldest of the six sisters Pa Salt adopted and brought to his home in Atlantis. Interestingly he actually never found the seventh sister. After he dies, all of the sisters return to Atlantis and are given a note about where Pa Salt adopted them from and this takes Maia to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I have never been to Brazil but the way Lucinda Riley describes it in such detail makes me want to go and see the sites that Maia saw. As Maia searches for her family history, her findings take her to the Corcovado Mountain where the great Christ the Redeemer statue stands.  She meets author, Floriano, for who she has translated one of his novels and he helps her in her quest. This in turn takes us back in time to the 1920s to meet Izabella Bonifacio, a beautiful young woman who has...

Dear Reader, Well I absolutely adored this latest book from Karen Swan . She never disappoints and I know I always say it after every book but this one is my favorite (till the next one!) First off the cover is beautiful and very striking with a backdrop of Paris. For this novel Karen Swan  drew inspiration from an event which made the French headlines several years ago in a Parisian apartment which had only been discovered - it had been locked since the war and inside it was almost as if time stood still since the day the owner departed. Inside this apartment was a trove of paintings.  The Paris Secret begins in the middle of this night when two men break into an apartment only to discover that is empty and covered in dust it appears to have been abandoned. But when they move further in to the apartment they find a crate in a bedroom and inside is something which will change the lives of one French family -...

Dear Reader, A Second Christmas Wish , now this is just a wonderful story full of hope and magic that comes with Christmas. Kathryn Freeman once again delivers a truly magical book. We meet Melissa Stanford who has just come out of an unhappy and controlling marriage  to a well known fashion designer - Lawrence Raven. They have a beautiful little boy, William, who is painfully shy and is very frightened of his father. Two years after the divorce Melissa is trying to get on with life and she persuades William to have tennis lessons in the run up to Christmas along with his friend Simon in the hope that it might bring him out of himself and make him more confident.. This is where she meets Simon's uncle, Daniel McCormick who is a renowned ex-tennis player due to an injury and he just happens to be drop dead gorgeous! He is the tennis coach. Alice who is good friends with Melissa and Daniel's sister at first warns him off (due to his charming ways)  but as they get to k...

Dear Reader, Let me start off by thanking the lovely people at NetGalley and Bookouture for allowing me to read this festive book for an honest review.  I have just returned from Paris (albeit fictionally) courtesy of the lovely Mandy Baggot who once again has delivered a truly wonderful festive book. She has whisked us off to romantic Paris! Ooh la la! (Sorry, I had to get that in somewhere) We first meet Ava who joins her "totes" best friend, Debs on an improntu trip to Paris. Ava is escaping a cheating boyfriend and an overbearing mother. Ava's mother, Rhona, runs a modelling agency and has been trying to push her in front of the camera since she was a small child and is always pushing her to loose weight. This is not what Ava wants to do with her life but she is unable to stand up to her mother. Ava's parents are divorced and Deb's mother and step-father are like surrogate parents to her. Deb's is heading to Paris for some research for a magazin...

Dear Reader, I was looking forward to returning to St Aiden, a coastal Cornish village after reading The Little Wedding Shop by the Sea. Christmas at the little Wedding Shop: Sequins and Snowflakes is the second installment in the series and it certainly did not disappoint. In fact I preferred it.  It was great to get back to the Brides by the Sea wedding shop and Daisy Hill Farm and catch up with previous characters. This time the focus is on Sera East (Seraphina) who designs gorgeous wedding dresses. Her demanding sister Alice is having a Christmas wedding and she puts Sera in charge of the organising. Sera is the polar opposite of Alice in that she is shy, laid back and has always viewed herself as the disappointment. Alice is the business woman, sophisticated, polished and always in control. Enter best men Quinn and Johnny who certainly challenge Sera's emotions. Quinn who is wild and devilishy handsome -a rogue but is honest and hard working and then Johnny who is...

Dear Reader, First off the cover has to get a mention - it is absolutely gorgeous. It is bold, colorful and very eye-catching. In ' Cupcakes and Confetti - The Little Wedding Shop by the Sea ' we meet a great cast of characters in particular, Poppy, who has moved from London to Cornwall. Poppy loves baking cakes, especially wedding cakes and has managed to turn freelance while living overhead the 'Brides by the Sea' wedding shop. Poppy knows a thing or two about weddings so when her best friend, Cate, unexpectedly loses her wedding planner, Poppy is the one to save the day by becoming a manager/wedding planner at the venue Daisy Hill Farm. The previous wedding planner has made such a mess of everything it is left to Poppy to get everything into order. Before she knows it she is up to her tonsils with double-booked weddings, bridezillas, not to mention the very moody (and very handsome) farm owner Rafe who is not one bit happy with the wedding business so it is down ...