Books Read: Unbreak Your Heart by Katie Marsh

Seven-year-old Jake's heart is failing and he doesn't want to leave his dad, Simon, alone. So he makes a decision: to find Simon someone to love before he goes.

Beth is determined to forget the past. But even when she leaves New York to start afresh in a Lake District village, she can't shake the secrets that haunt her.

Single dad Simon still holds a candle for the woman who left him years ago. Every day is a struggle to earn a living while caring for his beloved son. He has no time for finding someone new.

But Jake is determined his plan will succeed - and what unfolds will change all three of them forever.

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback

Book Lover's Day Giveaway: Win a Books Tote Bag & paperback of your choice from Amazon

Apparently today is Book Lover's Day so even though my When I Find You giveaway only finished yesterday I thought it only fitting to run another one to share the book love, as I've been spoilt by authors and publishers with so many fabulous books, by giving something back to loyal followers of the blog.

So I've decided to totally spoil you by offering you the chance to win this gorgeous Books, Books, Books tote bag plus a paperback book of your choice from Amazon (up to value £8)

The Write Stuff with... Katie Marsh

Today it's my stop on the This Beautiful Life blog tour so it's my pleasure to welcome Katie Marsh to talk about the music that makes up her writing playlist.

I have always set things to music. When I was little I would walk around with my enormous tape recorder (it weighed as much as a small dog), singing along to the action as I made a den or ‘helped’ my mum to clean up the kitchen. 

In my new book, ‘This Beautiful Life’ the main character Abi is a music fanatic too. She has just recovered from bowel cancer when the book starts, only to discover that her family has fallen apart. Her husband John has made some decisions that are about to come back to haunt him and her son Seb is battling with a secret of his own. The story follows them over the ensuing year, with each month set to a song on Abi’s cancer survival playlist – designed to remind her of the people that matter and the life that she doesn’t want to leave.

I make playlists constantly – for example I make one for every book I write, which sets up the mood and the emotions that I’m trying to evoke in the reader, as well as including favourite songs for all the main characters. When I start writing a book this is one of the key things I work out first – what music they like and why – along with what sport they do, what drink they have on a Friday night out and what their favourite TV show is. 

Here is the full playlist for ‘This Beautiful Life’ – the music I listened to and sung along to as I wrote and rewrote the story – the songs that made the story and the characters come alive.

This Beautiful Life full playlist

‘Adventure of a Lifetime’ by Coldplay
‘Asteroid’ (Pearl and Dean theme tune) by Pete Moore
BBC Cricket Theme Tune (Soul Limbo) by the New World Orchestra
‘Black Beauty’ (Galloping Home) by Denis King
‘China in Your Hand’ by T’pau
‘Free Fallin’ by Tom Petty
‘Get Lucky’ by Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams
‘Get Here’ by Oleta Adams
‘Hallelujah’ by Jeff Buckley

My Favourite Book is... by Sophie Hedley, Katie Marsh & Linda Hill

Sophie Hedley from Reviewed the Book

I haven’t been reading for more than a few years so I don’t have a childhood favourite or a book that turned me into a reader. But picking a favourite book was an easy choice for me and that book is The Judas Scar by Amanda Jennings. 

I’d loved lots of books before reading The Judas Scar of course but this is the one I’ve obsessed over the most and recommended the most. It was a step up from all the books I’d read before that were entertaining, compelling and well written. When you read lots of books, the stories don’t necessarily stay with you for that long but The Judas Scar has a story that I still regularly find myself thinking about now. I’m not sure I’ll ever forget it. 

The writing was brilliant and intelligent – Amanda has a great way of hooking you into a story until you’re at the stage you need to remember to take a breath. But what turned The Judas Scar into THAT book for me was how raw and personal the theme of the story was to Amanda and then realising just how much she had put into the book, where the inspiration had come from and how real the subject matter could be. 

It’s the only book that has moved me yet turned me into even more of an emotional mess when I read the Author’s Note afterwards.

Debut Spotlight: Katie Marsh

Today is publication day for one of the best debut novels I have read in quite some time so it's my absolute pleasure to welcome author Katie Marsh to the blog tell us a little more about her book My Everything.

Katie Marsh lives in south west London with her husband and daughter. As well as writing novels she has a career in healthcare, and MY EVERYTHING was inspired by the bravery of the patients she met while working in stroke services.

Katie loves strong coffee, the feel of a blank page and stealing her husband's toast.

To find out more about Katie and My Everything, visit her website katie-marsh.com or you can follow her on Twitter @marshisms.

On the day Hannah is finally going to tell her husband she's leaving him, he has a stroke . . . and life changes in an instant.

Tom's only 32. Now he can't walk or cut up his own food, let alone use his phone or take her in his arms. And Hannah's trapped. She knows she has to care for her husband, the very same man she was ready to walk away from.

But with the time and fresh perspective he's been given, Tom re-evaluates his life, and becomes determined to save his marriage. Can he once again become the man his wife fell in love with, or has he left it too late?

Can you give us a brief description of your debut novel, ‘My Everything’?
It’s the story of a young teacher - Hannah - whose husband Tom has a stroke on the day she’s going to leave him. He is only 32. It’s a warm, dilemma-driven story about two people discovering the things that are really important to them in life.

The subject of My Everything is an emotive one regarding a young wife Hannah having to change her plans when her husband Tom suddenly has a stroke, where did the inspiration come from? 
I actually thought up the premise the night before I got married. I was in the pub with my bridesmaids, playing skittles and enjoying slightly too much of the local Scrumpy cider, and we were talking about the wonders of my husband-to-be. At the time I was working with some inspirational stroke survivors in London in my job as a healthcare project manager, and the wedding and their bravery combined in my brain and I thought ‘What if..?’ 

How did you go about researching the effects of strokes to patients and their carers?
I talked to a lot of the patients and carers I was working with at the time, to learn more about how stroke had impacted on their lives. I also interviewed clinical colleagues to make sure I got the medical facts correct and attended a lot of stroke survivor and carer groups too. 

I haven’t had a chance to read My Everything yet but I’ve heard from others that it is an emotional read, did you find it as emotional to write? (I have now and it's a-maz-ing)
I’m so happy other readers found it an emotional read, and yes it was incredibly emotional to write. The situations Tom and Hannah face are so tough - Tom has to rebuild himself after his stroke, while Hannah is forced to give up on her dreams to care for the man she wanted to walk away from. I felt for them every step of the way, and their defiance, humour and bravery made me laugh and cry throughout the five years it took me to write the book. 

Describe Hannah in 3 words

Heartfelt, brave, kind.