Guest Book Review: Eva Rice - The Misinterpretation of Tara Jupp

Reviewed by Lisa Bentley

Country girl Tara is whisked off to Sixties London to become a pop star; there she is dressed, she is shown off at Chelsea parties, photographed by the best. She meets songwriters, singers, designers, and records her song, and falls in love.

But behind the buzz and excitement of her success, concern about her beautiful, wild sister Lucy and the bitter relationship with their friend Matilda haunts Tara. Their past friendship is broken, and among the deceptions and the strangeness of both their marriages, the buried secrets keep on reappearing.

The brilliant new world of fashion and music, of mini skirts and rock 'n' roll, of the Marquee Club and The Palladium, is also one of love and heartache.

Amazon links: Paperback or Kindle

Guest Book Review: Sarah Stovell - the Night Flower

Reviewed by Lisa Bentley

Two girls are brought together under the worst of circumstances: a prison ship taking them from London to 'parts beyond the sea'. 

Miriam is a Romany girl drawn from freedom in the hills of the North-West to the city to eke a living playing her tin-whistle in a place where her people are despised. When her mother dies - from cholera, the 'gypsy disease' - she's caught breaking-and-entering and sentenced to transportation.

Rose has been brought up to expect more, but when her husband dies and her father is sent down for illegal slave-trading, she's separated from her children and forced to take a governess's job. When she's caught stealing, the judge shows no mercy.

Surviving - just - an appalling voyage, the two arrive just after Christmas into the blinding sun of the strange new island: Van Dieman's Land. Here they are sent to work in a nursery, where women of ill-repute give birth before being sent for correction. The nursery is run by a corrupt, debauched Reverend and his idealistic son, who soon takes a fancy to Miriam. But Rose, her best friend and close confidant, watches jealously and makes plans to reverse their fortunes.

Guest Book Review: Carol E. Wyer - Just Add Spice

Reviewed by Lisa Bentley

   Escape from reality comes in patent-leather Prada kneeboots

Dawn Ellis needs to escape from her painfully dull existence. Her unemployed husband spends all day complaining about life, moping around, or fixing lawnmowers on her kitchen table. The local writing class proves to be an adequate distraction with its eccentric collection of wannabe authors and, of course, the enigmatic Jason, who soon shows a romantic interest in her.

Dawn pours her inner frustrations into her first novel about the extraordinary exploits of Cinnamon Knight, an avenging angel -- a woman who doesn't believe in following the rules. Cinnamon is ruthless and wanton, inflicting suffering on any man who warrants it. Little does Dawn realise that soon the line between reality and fiction will blur. Her own life will be transformed, and those close to her will pay the price.  Find out what happens in Just Add Spice. 

Guest Book Review: Julia Williams - Midsummer Magic

Reviewed by Lisa Bentley

On a balmy summer evening, anything can happen...

Recently engaged Josie is visiting her parents in Cornwall with best friend Diane, fiancée Harry and his pal Ant. 

As the four have a drink in the local pub, they encounter TV hypnotist Freddie Puck who convinces them to take part in a dare.  Local mythology predicts that an evening by the standing stones will lead to everlasting happiness.  But as evening falls, not everyone seems to have remembered the boundaries of love...

Guest Book Review: Jean Burnett - Who Needs Mr Darcy?

Reviewed by Lisa Bentley

Mr Wickham turned out to be a disappointing husband in many ways, the most notable being his early demise on the battlefields of Waterloo. And so Lydia Wickham, nee Bennet, must make her fortune independently.

A lesser woman, without Lydia's natural ability to flirt uproariously on the dance floor and cheat seamlessly at the card table, would swoon in the wake of a dashing highwayman, a corrupt banker and even an amorous Royal or two. But on the hunt for a marriage that will make her rich, there's nothing that Lydia won't turn her hand to.

Taking in London, Paris and Brighton, The Bad Miss Bennet details the charming, lively and somewhat dastardly exploits of the youngest Bennet sister. Pride and Prejudice this isn't and Mr Darcy certainly won't be rescuing her this time.

Guest Book Review: Anne-Marie Casey - An Englishwoman in New York

Reviewed by Lisa Bentley

When Lucy's husband loses his job and is relocated to New York, she is forced to give up her posh London life and move to a tiny Manhattan apartment. Homesick and resentful at first, Lucy soon finds herself embarking on an exhilarating new affair - no, not with her husband, although she is surprised to find they do still love each other, but with the city itself and the three women she meets at the school gates who, against all odds, become her friends.

Christy, married to a wealthy older man, questions her life choice as she fantasizes about her doorman and tries to make peace with her angry stepdaughter. Julia is a workaholic television writer who becomes convinced her family is better off without her, until a neighbour's dog makes her re-think everything. Meanwhile Robyn, bread-winning wife to an aspiring novelist, has had enough. She wants what her friends are having - even if it means an affair with at least one, if not all, of their husbands...

Guest Book Review: Rosie Fiore - Wonder Women

Reviewed by Lisa Bentley

Jo has always dreamed of starting her own business, but the arrival of her two gorgeous toddlers has put her ambition on the backburner. Then she hits on a brilliant idea – a kids’ clothing shop with a twist – and is thrilled when it really takes off. When husband Lee offers to quit his job to look after the family while her business grows, it seems a godsend – but will their marriage stand the test of reversing their roles? 

Jo soon recruits Holly and Mel to help her in the shop. Designer Holly’s high-flying career has come crashing down and she’s moved back home – but is she ready to manage a major family crisis? Meanwhile, Mel worries her teenage daughter Serena is going off the rails. Is finding out more worth risking her daughter’s trust?  

At the crossroads of their lives, friendship could be the only the thing keeping these wonder women strong.

Guest Book Review: Emma Straub - Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures

Reviewed by Lisa Bentley

When the most famous producer in Hollywood plucks seventeen-year-old Elsa Emerson from a party and gives her a brand-new name, a star of the silver screen is born.

Laura Lamont.

Having spent the summers of her childhood at her father’s roadside theatre, all she has ever wanted is to act. Here, it seems, is her dream come true. Step by step – new figure, new wardrobe, new house, new husband – she succumbs to the consuming power of the studio. But her transformation is more profound than she could ever have foreseen . . .

Guest Book Review: Sophie Hart - The Naughty Girls Book Club

Reviewed by Lisa Bentley

A quaint suburb. A quiet little book club. A very naughty reading list.

When Estelle sets up a book group in order to increase custom to her struggling cafe, what follows is more mind-blowing than she could have ever imagined...

As the first book club meeting flounders, Estelle suggests a spot of erotica to spice things up.

Inspired by their naughty novels, this group of shy suburban readers shake off their inhibitions and soon discover that their own lives can be just as scandalous..

Guest Book Review: Gill Paul - The Affair

Reviewed by Lisa Bentley

Rome 1961. As the camera rolls on the film set of Cleopatra, the Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton love affair is about to capture the world’s attention.

When Diana Bailey arrives on set to begin work as a historical advisor, tensions are running high. The film is in financial crisis and a media storm is brewing over the Taylor-Burton relationship.

As Diana adjusts to a new life away from her troubled marriage, she strikes up a close friendship with Helen, a young make-up artist, and seeks solace in Ernesto, a charismatic member of the film crew. But Helen is harbouring a dark secret of her own, one that will affect Diana in more ways than she could ever imagine…

Guest Book Review: Kim Izzo - My Life in Black and White

Reviewed by Lisa Bentley

Clara Bishop feels life has served her up far too many slaps and not nearly enough kisses. When she is suddenly jilted by her philandering husband, she follows him to London, determined she must win him back.  

Armed only with a suitcase of vintage clothing inherited from her grandmother, a former film noir actress, Clara discovers that the clothes really do make the woman. Dressed to kill, she adopts a new femme fatale persona: confident, sexy and set on revenge.  

But on the road to retaliation, Clara discovers an unfinished film script that sheds light on her grandmother's mysterious death years before. As Clara's life is transported into a living, breathing film from the fifties, she discovers not only the secrets of her grandmother's past, but the chance to write her own ending too . . .

Guest Book Review: Fiona Valpy - The French for Love

Reviewed by Lisa Bentley

Gina has lost her perfect job, her boyfriend and her favourite aunt all within the space of a few months.  

So when she inherits her aunt’s ramshackle French house, Gina decides to pack her bags for the Bordeaux countryside – swapping the miserable English weather for blue skies, sunshine, great wine and a fresh start.

What she hasn’t factored in is a hole in the roof, the most embarrassing language faux pas, and discovering family secrets that she was never supposed to know.

Suddenly feeling a long way from home, Gina will have to rely on new found friends, her own hard work – and Cédric – her charming, mysterious and très handsome new stonemason.

But whilst desire needs no translation, love is a different matter.  Can Gina overcome the language barrier to make her French dream come true?