Festive Fun: My Fantasy Christmas Dinner Party by Anne Cater

Today it's my pleasure to welcome blogger and blog tour organiser Anne Cater from Random Things Through My Letterbox as the latest to host a Fantasy Christmas Dinner Party.

The five authors I would invite are:

Margaret Atwood:  The Handmaid's Tale is probably the book that has made the biggest impression on me.  I read it 30 years ago as a young woman and I'll admit that at the time, I did struggle with it.  However, the story stayed with me and as I've aged, I've realised just how relevant it is, and will always be ... which is quite sad really, given the content.   I think chatting to Atwood would be so fascinating, I have so many questions that I'd love to ask her. 

Marian Keyes:  I've been reading Marian Keyes for years too. Her books are so funny, yet also touch on the darkest of subjects. She's incredibly funny; I get her regular video updates and she never fails to make me smile. She's been through dark times.  I'd love to chat shoes and beauty with her.

Festive Fun: My Fantasy Christmas Dinner Party by Kim Nash

Today it's my pleasure to welcome Kim Nash back to the the blog, a woman of many talents, blogger, PR & Social Media Manager and now published author... over to you Kim.

I have decided that the five authors I would love to invite to my Christmas dinner party are: 

Martina Cole - I could listen to Martina talk all day. She has SUCH a way with words, not just on paper, but in person too and she’s such a captivating storyteller.  So lucky to have finally met her at Harrogate this year.  I think she’d be an amazing dinner party guest and would keep us all on our toes. 

Milly Johnson - Milly was the person who changed my life.  She didn’t know it at the time but reading her book A Spring Affair was a pivotal turning point in my life.  I contacted her by email, when I’d read her to tell her how much it resonated with me and we’ve kept in touch ever since.  She encouraged me every step of the way of my blogging life, my journey into the publishing world and more recently my journey as an author.  An absolute, all round bloody superstar.  And again another hilarious story teller, who I could never tire of listening to. 

Enid Blyton - I would bring Enid back from heaven and thank her for giving me my love of reading.  Her Famous Five stories were brilliant, I wanted to be The Naughtiest Girl and go away to boarding school and have a trunk of goodies sent to me and more than anything I wanted to play Lacrosse because it sounded so cool!  Her Magic Faraway Tree series and Magic Wishing Chair series were just wonderful.  

Guest Review: Marian Keyes - The Woman Who Stole My Life

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

'Name: Stella Sweeney. 
Height: average. 
Recent life events: dramatic.'

One day, sitting in traffic, married Dublin mum Stella Sweeney attempts a good deed. The resulting car crash changes her life. 

For she meets a man who wants her telephone number (for the insurance, it turns out). That's okay. She doesn't really like him much anyway (his Range Rover totally banjaxed her car). 

But in this meeting is born the seed of something which will take Stella thousands of miles from her old life, turning an ordinary woman into a superstar, and, along the way, wrenching her whole family apart. 

Is this all because of one ill-advised act of goodwill? Was meeting Mr Range Rover destiny or karma? Should she be grateful or hopping mad? 

For the first time real, honest-to-goodness happiness is just within her reach. But is Stella Sweeney, Dublin housewife, ready to grasp it?

Amazon links: Kindle or Hardcover